Integrating personal choices into home care
The abstract describes a challenge in home care: oral health remains insufficiently integrated. Professionals report a lack of skills and unclear routines, while older people want to participate in decisions about their care.
The Dental PCC@Home model was designed with older people, family carers, home care professionals and dental professionals. It is intended for older people living at home with complex care needs. The focus is as much on access to care as on participation in decisions.
Decision support and four possible pathways
This substudy is embedded in the cluster-randomised GAPA trial. Eligible participants in the intervention group are offered a decision aid, alongside a discussion of needs they express or that care providers identify.
Four options are planned: an online dental consultation, mobile dental care at home, an appointment at a dental practice or declining dental care. Participation in the substudy is voluntary. The control group receives usual care.
The protocol therefore tests a care model and support for making choices, rather than a single dental treatment.
Results expected, not yet established
Assessments are planned at baseline, then at six and twelve months. The two primary outcomes are changes in oral health status, measured using the ROAG, and oral health-related quality of life, measured using the GOHAI, between baseline and twelve months.
Interviews with older people, family members and care providers will also explore their experiences of care and decision-making. These may shed light on the model's implementation, without replacing measurements of its effects.
At this stage, the dossier does not support the conclusion that this approach improves oral health, independence or access to care. It only explains how these potential benefits will be studied.
Limitations to keep in mind
The dossier contains only a PubMed protocol abstract, with no review of the full text or clinical results. The sample size is not specified. Funding and conflicts of interest could not be verified. Applicability to other healthcare systems remains unknown.
What we can take away
The protocol's value lies in making personal choice a component of dental care at home. Its effectiveness remains to be evaluated.
Sources and provenance
- Protocol for the GAPA person-centred dental care at home intervention: a substudy within a cluster randomised controlled trial in Swedish home care.
Source date: 2026-11-03.
Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial · Résumé PubMed uniquement, texte intégral non consulté