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Dental students, social policy students and learning disability: do differing attitudes exist?
C Coyle1, W Saunderson, R Freeman
1School of Dentistry, RGH, Belfast, UK.
Summary
Dental students exhibit less favorable attitudes towards learning disabilities compared to social policy students. Training in learning disability and curriculum changes are recommended for dental undergraduates.
Area of Science:
- Health Sciences
- Social Sciences
- Education
Background:
- Attitudes towards learning disabilities can influence healthcare provision.
- Understanding these attitudes is crucial for developing inclusive educational programs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare attitudes towards learning disabilities between dental and social policy students.
- To inform recommendations for the UK dental undergraduate curriculum.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional survey was conducted with undergraduate dental and social policy students.
- A questionnaire assessed attitudes towards learning disability.
- Data were analyzed using Cronbach's alpha, Student's t-test, and ANOVA.
Main Results:
- Dental students reported significantly less favorable attitudes towards learning disability than social policy students.
- Female dental students showed more favorable attitudes than male dental students.
- High response rates were achieved (83% for dental, 97% for social policy).
Conclusions:
- Dental undergraduates demonstrate less favorable attitudes towards individuals with learning disabilities compared to social policy students.
- Recommendations include integrating learning disability training and social policy theory into dental curricula.
- A spiral curriculum approach with early community exposure and later clinical experience with patients with learning disabilities is proposed.