Tag Archives: studies
The health-seeking 70-year-old
You have read on this blog how age is positively associated with health-seeking behaviour. The older one gets, the less one smokes and the more the daily activity increases. Another recent survey conducted in the UK amongst 1,002 adults age 55 and over, confirms this behaviour.1 The survey conducted for Simplyhealth, the cash-plans provider in dental care, found that: 8 out of 10 70+ year olds, try to keep fit and healthy. More over 70s claim they focus on fitness than those in their 50s and 60s. The key issue for fitness was affordability but 1 in 4 said that companies (dental practices?) target the … Continue reading
Getting Patients to Take Charge of Their Health
In her blog titled “Getting Patients to Take Charge of Their Health”, Dr. Pauline Chen, M.D. talks about how to engage adult patients to take better care of their chronic diseases. Her message applies to dental care as the population ages and has a growing burden of dental disease. Dr. Chen says that it is easy and customary to blame the patient for being sick. But she also points to some novel research on patient engagement conducted at a network of 40 family medical clinics in Minneapolis called Fairview Health Services. For almost two years, Fairview Health Services has been giving patients a survey to … Continue reading
Dentistry – An Essential Service or an Elective Service?
Regular visits to the family dental practice have become a good barometer of the economy. They rise when times are good and fall when times are bad. A recent study [PDF] by NPR and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that amongst all healthcare services, dentistry was most affected by the growth of long-term unemployed in the United States (Chart1). More than 6 in 10 such adults skipped dental care or checkups. Surveys of UK dental office attendance have found a similar phenomenon – since the start of the recession, regular visits have declined to levels seen 10 years ago. Pundits report there will be a … Continue reading
Oral Healthcare of Older patients in the UK
The British Dental Association has warned in a recently published report that the quality and availability of oral healthcare for older adults remains an issue and that insufficient priority is being given to making improvements. The report says that the health and well-being of older adults is poorly served and there are concerns for the future. Oral health is often not properly considered in the wider healthcare provision and may patients just don’t get the care they need. The chair of the BDA’s UK Healthcare policy, Dr Robert Kinloch, said “Good oral health is as important for older adults as it is for younger patients. … Continue reading
Health Seeking Activity is a Major Factor on Health Care Purchasing
The Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, DC recently reported that 50% of American adults seek information about a personal health concern from a source other than their doctor. And nearly two in five American adults reported seeking health information on behalf of another person in the previous 12 months. Health seeking activity seems to have declined modestly since the recession and in tandem with the decline in print media. However, ten years ago only 38% of American adults reported any health seeking activity. The Center found that more information is sought on the Internet and less from print media. Those most actively … Continue reading
Fluoride for the High Risk Adult Patient – Does it Work?
The December 2011 issue of the Journal of Public Health Dentistry offers a systematic review of studies of fluoride’s preventive effect in high risk adults. 1 (Prevora’s therapeutic indication defines high risk with two examples: having 3 or more cavities at the start of the treatment plan or suffering from dry mouth). Here are the findings of the systematic review: