Testing of a dental student-administered multidisciplinary health promotion program

A multidisciplinary approach involving healthcare students for health promotion has been recommended. With this view, the primary phase of the integrated health promotion program (IHPP) was designed and pilot tested.

A pre-post-intervention study was conducted among 55 housewives of two self-help groups in India. The intervention consisted of a motivational interview, interactive session with a nutritionist, group discussion, personal hygiene training, and an illustrative reinforcement leaflet. Interventions were provided by trained dental students. The evaluation was based on outcomes from six tools specifically tailored for the program. These were the health self-regulation self-efficacy scale (HSSS), visual analogue scale (VAS) for self-health perception, oral health knowledge and attitude questionnaire, motivational interview, group discussion, and personal hygiene demonstration test.

Statistically significant change in mean pre- and postprogram scores in HSSS (P < 0.001), its two components, metacognitive component, action component, as well as VAS (P = 0.001) indicated a change in health-related perceptions in the participants. Mean oral health knowledge score (6.1), as well as attitude score (3.8), was fair. Most of the participants were able to demonstrate personal hygiene and tooth brushing correctly; take collective decisions about their health, plan changes in their diet, and resolve upon bringing about healthy changes in their lifestyle.

The program evaluation indicated successful intervention and may be replicated in a larger population. Healthcare student population may be used in developing countries to bring about an attitude change in the underprivileged population through an IHPP.