Integrating Oral Health in General Health National Policy Frameworks for Older Adults: Scoping Review

The global rise in population ageing challenges health systems, including oral health, which is integral to overall health and quality of life. Although the World Health Organization advocates integrated care for older adults, evidence on national models integrating oral health into broader health strategies remains limited.

This review aimed to synthesise evidence on approaches that integrate oral health into general health national policy frameworks, focusing on older adults.

A scoping review was conducted using electronic searches of government domains via Google and Google Advanced in English-speaking countries, supplemented by searches of the Analysis and Policy Observatory database. Inclusion criteria were based on Population: older adults; Context: national-level health policy frameworks; Concept: integration of oral health.

Of the 2616 documents retrieved from 52 countries, 1964 were screened, and 28 documents with oral health incorporated were included. The focus areas of the included documents were palliative care, mental health, disease prevention, chronic diseases, nutrition, and healthy ageing. Across the 28 included documents, oral health was mentioned in the context of 24, with nine of these referring to it only in the policy context. Oral health appeared under an objective or strategy in five documents, as an activity in three, as an indicator in two, and as a recommendation in nine documents. Oral health stakeholder representation was limited.

This review identified that the integration of oral health within broader national health policies targeting older adults remains largely superficial, underscoring the need for deeper and more meaningful integration and intersectoral collaboration.