Premium
Bilingual flipcharts help improve oral health‐related knowledge and self‐efficacy of K orean‐ A merican caregivers of preschoolers
Author(s) -
Chi Donald L.,
Ko Alice,
Kim Jeffrey Y.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/jphd.12073
Subject(s) - acculturation , early childhood caries , medicine , self efficacy , oral health , intervention (counseling) , family medicine , clinical psychology , psychology , nursing , immigration , archaeology , psychotherapist , history
Objective We have limited knowledge on ways to improve oral health‐related behaviors for caregivers of minority preschoolers. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of a bilingual educational flipchart. Methods We piloted a bilingual flipchart with K orean‐ A merican caregivers of preschoolers ( n = 219) and administered pre‐/post‐intervention surveys. The paired t ‐test evaluated changes in knowledge and self‐efficacy (for all caregivers and stratified by acculturation). Results There were significant improvements in knowledge on the bacterial etiology of tooth decay ( P = 0.02), mother‐to‐child transmission of tooth decay ( P = 0.03), fluoride toothpaste safety ( P < 0.0001), and dental visit frequency ( P < 0.0001). Caregivers' self‐efficacy to keep their child's teeth healthy also improved ( P < 0.0001). There were differences in knowledge measures based on caregivers' acculturation. Conclusions Bilingual educational materials help improve the oral health‐related knowledge and self‐efficacy of K orean‐ A merican caregivers of preschoolers. Larger confirmatory studies are needed and future work should evaluate clinical outcomes associated with improved knowledge and self‐efficacy.