Compliance with best practice in oral health: implementing evidence in residential aged care

Background  The changing oral health status and the increasing complexity of dental needs for older Australians highlights the importance of oral healthcare within the residential aged care setting. The increasing incidence of oral disease and conditions in older adults is related to higher levels of oral functional dependence, physical frailty, medical conditions, polypharmacy, cognitive impairment and increasing dependence on carers. Objectives  The Compliance with Best Practice in Oral Health Project was designed to identify issues in relation to oral healthcare and to identify that evidence-based best practice was demonstrated within the organisation's existing policies and procedures. Evidence-based best practice recommendations were based on the systematic evidence review 'oral hygiene care for adults with dementia in residential aged care' developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Results  Four aged care facilities participated in the project. In the pre-audit, compliance was achieved in one of the six evidence-based criteria. A plan was implemented to improve compliance with three of the remaining five criteria within a 4-week time frame. Post-audit results indicated an improvement in compliance with evidence-based best practice. Conclusion  The Compliance with Best Practice in Oral Health Project provided an opportunity to review and update existing organisational clinical care policies with evidence-based best practice recommendations and highlighted the importance of developing local clinical care leadership at the residential site.