2001 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 131-137
The purpose of this investigation is to determine the average number of professional staff members within a local government providing dental health care and to describe their actions as they relate to membe'rs of the community, especially the elderly. We also examine the role of public health nurses in the coordination of dental health care, and evaluate the nature of their activities. Subjects for the analysis were selected from 860 organizations (effective answer rate of 26.4%) and the following results were obtained : 1) The percentage of public health nurses involved in dental health care was 67.0%, which was the highest rate of all full-time health care providers. The rate for dental hygienist was the highest of all part-time workers at 47.7%. 2) Dental health care was provided for the elderly in 427 of the 852 institutions surveyed, for a total rate of 50.1% (wards/cities under special government ordinance 84.0%, cities 66 5%, towns 42.8%, villages 32 4%). 3) The average number of health care workers per 100,000 people providing health care for the elderly was the highest in villages, followed in descending order by towns, cities and wards/cities under special government ordinance. 4) In wards/cities under special government ordinance, the percentage of public health nurses and dental hygienists with a full-time job providing dental health care for the elderly was 14.2%. 5) The total rate of evaluating practice of health organizations involved in providing dental health care for the people was 45.3 %. In conclusion, the results demonstrated the need for a greater number of health care professionals providing dental health care for the elderly in the future.
