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The Blue Book Oral Health Program: a collaborative partnership with statewide implications
Author(s) -
Phelan Claire
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he06109
Subject(s) - medicine , health promotion , early childhood caries , family medicine , nursing , general partnership , health education , population health , public health , inclusion (mineral) , community health , dental assistant , health policy , oral health , medical education , psychology , social psychology , finance , economics
Issue addressed Basic oral health knowledge and skills are essential for parents and child health professionals to promote good oral health and the prevention of dental disease in young children. The aim of the Blue Book Program was to provide accurate and appropriate oral health information to all parents of newborn babies and young children in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, and child health professionals to address the serious issue of early childhood caries (ECC) and to increase general health involvement in oral health promotion. Methods Oral health information sheets were developed based on a review of current literature plus input from paediatric dental specialists. Information was pre‐tested with child and family health nurses and their clients. Two hundred and forty child health professionals, predominately child and family health nurses, attended in‐service education in early childhood oral health in 2004. Following this, a trial run of 40,000 oral health information sheets were printed and distributed to participating nurses. Results The NSW Department of Health approved the request for inclusion of oral health information in the Blue Book for the 2006 print run. A precondition for re‐inclusion was the development of oral health guidelines for child health professionals. The Centre for Oral Health Strategy NSW has begun work on these guidelines and has incorporated this strategy into a new and comprehensive plan for a statewide Early Childhood Oral Health Program. Conclusion The methods used in this program support a collaborative partnership approach between oral health professionals, health promotion experts, child and family health nurses and NSW regulatory bodies. This approach is essential to address the serious issue of early childhood caries. So what? The Blue Book program has served an important purpose; oral health information will soon be available to all parents of infants, and child health professionals in NSW will have increased access to oral health information and education.