Communicating the 'Smart' Way to Improve and Support Oral Health Amongst Young Adults in New Zealand: A mHealth in Oral Health Study
type: CreativeWork
description: INTRODUCTION Free dental and oral health care is available to all New Zealanders until their 18th birthday. Despite this, oral disease remains one of the most prevalent, preventable diseases in New Zealand (NZ) communities. The impact of oral disease on individuals and society can be significant. Oral disease is expensive to treat. Therefore disease prevention, through effective oral health promotion messages that incorporate a focus on oral health literacy (OHL), should be a priority in clinical settings. The proliferation of mobile phones in recent years and young people’s fascination with this technology has led to mobile phones being identified as a platform for health promotion initiatives. The use of mobile phones in this way is called mobile health (mHealth). Unlike mainstream media campaigns, mobile phones offer an opportunity to communicate directly and personally with individuals using a variety of mobile phone functions. As young adults are now the largest user group of ‘smart’ mobile phones in NZ, mHealth could provide a novel and innovative platform to improve oral health amongst this group. AIMS This mixed methods study, amongst 16 (18 to 24 year old) tertiary students in Auckland, had two aims: Aim One: Determine if a mHealth intervention a. could improve their oral health by complementing traditional oral health promotion b. was considered, by this cohort, to be an acceptable way of communicating oral health promotion messages c. could improve their OHL Aim Two: Determine which factors optimised the success of the mHealth intervention METHOD AND METHODOLOGY This study was undertaken over six months. Participants were randomly allocated to four sample groups: Control and three intervention (Phone, Text, Video). Data was collected on three occasions (visits one to three) with the study aims assessed as follows: • Aim One: Quantitative measures of oral health (OHIP-14, Plaque Control Record) and OHL (REALD-30); Qualitative interview data • Aim Two: Qual…
abstract: INTRODUCTION Free dental and oral health care is available to all New Zealanders until their 18th birthday. Despite this, oral disease remains one of the most prevalent, preventable diseases in New Zealand (NZ) communities. The impact of oral disease on individuals and society can be significant. Oral disease is expensive to treat. Therefore disease prevention, through effective oral health promotion messages that incorporate a focus on oral health literacy (OHL), should be a priority in clinical settings. The proliferation of mobile phones in recent years and young people’s fascination with this technology has led to mobile phones being identified as a platform for health promotion initiatives. The use of mobile phones in this way is called mobile health (mHealth). Unlike mainstream media campaigns, mobile phones offer an opportunity to communicate directly and personally with individuals using a variety of mobile phone functions. As young adults are now the largest user group of ‘smart’ mobile phones in NZ, mHealth could provide a novel and innovative platform to improve oral health amongst this group. AIMS This mixed methods study, amongst 16 (18 to 24 year old) tertiary students in Auckland, had two aims: Aim One: Determine if a mHealth intervention a. could improve their oral health by complementing traditional oral health promotion b. was considered, by this cohort, to be an acceptable way of communicating oral health promotion messages c. could improve their OHL Aim Two: Determine which factors optimised the success of the mHealth intervention METHOD AND METHODOLOGY This study was undertaken over six months. Participants were randomly allocated to four sample groups: Control and three intervention (Phone, Text, Video). Data was collected on three occasions (visits one to three) with the study aims assessed as follows: • Aim One: Quantitative measures of oral health (OHIP-14, Plaque Control Record) and OHL (REALD-30); Qualitative interview data • Aim Two: Qual…
author: Turner, Sharmyn
keywords: Mixed methods, Oral health, Dental, mHealth, Oral health literacy, Oral health promotion
date published: 2017
date modified: 2026-07-27T18:46:23Z
provider: AUT University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: AUT University