Bite size oral health promotion.

UNLABELLED: Improving health is part of the Government's wider public health agenda and central to this theme is the requirement to help patients make informed healthy choices. The aim of the article is to review the basis of oral health promotion in primary dental care, explain why it is necessary and to give some practical tips on behaviour change in practice. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Understanding and relating well to your patients can make oral health promotion more successful, with communication skills being paramount in achieving this goal, along with the creation of a supportive health-orientated practice environment

Communities in action: developing a dental ambassador training programme for adults with learning disability.

Adults with learning disabilities may be at higher risk of poor oral health. The community outreach programme attached to Plymouth University Peninsula Dental School used established links with local agencies for this group to try out an intervention using service users as dental ambassadors. A programme was developed to meet the needs of the group and training in oral health key messages was provided along with support in presentation skills. Early evaluation shows promise in terms of feasibility, interest and improved self-care. Public health competencies being illustrated: Strategic leadership, communication, teaching and training, and collaborative working for health and oral health improvement

Systematic review of the Hawthorne effect: new concepts are needed to study research participation effects.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to (1) elucidate whether the Hawthorne effect exists, (2) explore under what conditions, and (3) estimate the size of any such effect. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: This systematic review summarizes and evaluates the strength of available evidence on the Hawthorne effect. An inclusive definition of any form of research artifact on behavior using this label, and without cointerventions, was adopted. RESULTS: Nineteen purposively designed studies were included, providing quantitative data on the size of the effect in eight randomized controlled trials, five quasiexperimental studies, and six observational evaluations of reporting on one's behavior by answering questions or being directly observed and being aware of being studied. Although all but one study was undertaken within health sciences, study methods, contexts, and findings were highly heterogeneous. Most studies reported some evidence of an effect, although significant biases are judged likely because of the complexity of the evaluation object. CONCLUSION: Consequences of research participation for behaviors being investigated do exist, although little can be securely known about the conditions under which they operate, their mechanisms of effects, or their magnitudes. New concepts are needed to guide empirical studies