Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 7, 2025
Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Constructing a problem and marketing solutions: A critical content analysis of the nature and function of
Quinn Grundy1, Cliodna Cussen1, Craig Dale1,2
1Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Aims And Objectives:
To document the nature of industry-authored educational materials focused on oral health; and analyse how they construct the relationships between nurses and industry.
Background:
Nurses frequently rely on pharmaceutical and medical device companies for continuing education. However, industry-sponsored education is a key aspect of multi-faceted promotional campaigns and may introduce bias into clinical decision-making.
Design:
Critical qualitative content analysis reported according to the COREQ checklist.
Methods:
We purposively sampled educational documents from the websites of 4 major manufacturers of oral health products for acute care. Two researchers analysed each document using an open-ended coding form. We conducted an interpretive analysis using inductive coding methods.
Results:
We included 63 documents that emphasised the importance of education in the form of training, expert guidance, evidence syntheses and protocols to support oral care practices. Industry promoted its relationship with nursing as an oral health authority through three dominant messages: (1) Pneumonia is a source of morbidity, mortality and treatment costs, which informed nurses about a critical problem; (2) Comprehensive oral care reduces pneumonia risk, which instructed nurses about product-oriented solutions; and (3) Frequent oral care is important, which emphasised compliance to standardised protocols. These messages formed an accountability logic that prompted clinicians to address a problem for which the company's products served as a solution. In doing so, industry validated dominant administrative concerns including compliance, while promoting product uptake.
Conclusions:
Industry-authored educational materials may promote industry interests, rather than nursing or patient agendas. Dependence on industry's information and product solutions may have unintended, negative consequences for nursing practice.
Relevance To Clinical Practice:
Though industry's educational materials present as convenient, helpful and evidence-based, they may serve to redirect care processes in ways that reinforce company goals rather than clinical priorities. Nurses should seek independent sources of continuing education where possible.
Related Concept Videos
01:22Healthcare Associated Infections II: Preventive Measures
The best practices for preventing healthcare-associated infections include hand hygiene, patient risk...
01:17Healthcare Agencies II
Parish nursing is a growing specialty nursing profession that focuses on holistic healthcare, health promotion, and illness prevention. It blends professional nursing practice with a health ministry, focusing on health and healing within the context of a Christian community. Parish nurses serve as health educators, referral sources,...
01:18Healthcare Agencies I
01:26Levels of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention
In primary prevention, actions taken before disease onset prevent the disease from...
01:21Health Literacy
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution...