title: Care home managers' views of dental services for older people living in nursing and residential homes in inner city London.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate care home managers' views on the provision of dental care (current and future; urgent, check-up and follow-up) for their residents, barriers to care and the impact of policy changes, by type of home (nursing vs residential), with a view to informing the planning and provision of care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross sectional postal questionnaire survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  Care homes in South East London. PARTCIPANTS: All care home managers in three south east London boroughs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 72% response rate (n=152) was achieved, 140 of which were designated as nursing and/or residential homes (92%). Almost all managers reported that the care homes had arrangements in place for residents to access some elements of dental care (99%, n=148). Reported barriers to care included residents' fear of treatment (53%), patients' limited mobility (45%) and waiting times for services (42%). Limited mobility (p=0.01) and transport issues (p=0.01) were more significant barriers for nursing homes, whereas fear (p=0.02) was more significant for residential homes. Access to a range of dental services and modes of service delivery were requested for the future; most notable were the demands for domiciliary services to be available to nursing homes and for residential homes to access local general dental practitioners to meet the needs of their residents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Managers report having arrangements in place for residents to access dental services; however, there was a clear view that future arrangements should be more appropriate to the needs and vulnerabilities of their residents.
authors.affiliation: King College London Dental Institute at Guy s, Kings College and St Thomas's Hospitals, London, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belsi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Maffe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gallagher
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D016321:Dental Care for Aged / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D003770:Dental Offices; D003796:Dental Service, Hospital; D004638:Emergency Treatment; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006285:Health Planning; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006699:Home Care Services; D006707:Homes for the Aged; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008131:London; D051346:Mobility Limitation; D009735:Nursing Homes; D014187:Transportation of Patients; D014850:Waiting Lists; D000078329:Workforce