title: What should dental services for people with disabilities be like? Results of an Irish Delphi panel survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study aimed to generate prioritised goals for oral health services for people with disabilities as a first step in meeting the need for evidence based oral health services for people with disabilities in Ireland.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used a three round modified e-Delphi method, involving dental service professionals and people with disabilities or their representatives, in Ireland. Three rounds were completed online using SurveyMonkey. Round 1 asked: "List what you think dental services for people with disabilities in Ireland should be like." Items for subsequent rounds were generated from responses to Round 1. Round 2 and Round 3 used 5 point Likert scales to rank these items by priority: from No Priority (1) to Top Priority (5). Consensus was achieved on each item where at least 80% of respondents considered an item either High or Top Priority. A consensus meeting concluded the process.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-one panelists started and 48 completed the survey. The Delphi panel agreed on level of priority for 69 items and generated 16 consensus statements. These statements covered a range of topics such as access to care, availability of information and training, quality of care, dental treatment and cost. A recurrent theme relating to the appropriateness of care to individual need arose across topics suggesting a need to match service delivery according to the individual's needs, wants and expectations rather than the disability type/diagnosis based service which predominates today.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This process produced a list of prioritised goals for dental services for people with disabilities. This creates a foundation for building evidence-based service models for people with disabilities in Ireland.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Child Dental Health, Dublin Dental University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Caoimhin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mac Giolla Phadraig
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Child Dental Health, Dublin Dental University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nunn
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Child Dental Health, Dublin Dental University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dougall
authors.affiliation: Public Health, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Eunan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: Department of Public and Child Dental Health, Dublin Dental University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Jacinta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McLoughlin
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guerin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003697:Delphi Technique; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D007494:Ireland; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000592:standards*; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires