DENTAL PLAN FOR NURSING HOMES

Ms SIMMONS (Morialta) (15:42): I would like to talk today about the national rollout of a dental plan for nursing homes. This is an issue dear to my heart because between 2004 and 2006 I was very pleased to be a part of several research projects putting together an oral health assessment tool kit for GPs to utilise when undertaking a comprehensive medical assessment in residential aged care facilities, as well as other inquiries into the oral health of older people.

I am delighted to be able to advise the house that the Australian government has recently announced the national rollout of a dental plan for nursing homes. This is particularly exciting as the plan is based on the work undertaken for the Australian government by the South Australian Dental Services Aged Care Team and the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health from the University of Adelaide.

This announcement is the outcome of a number of years of research and program development by SADS and I would particularly like to pay tribute to Martin Dooland, Anne Pak-Poy, Anne Fricker and John Spencer. In 2004 the National Oral Health Plan pointed to the poor oral health of people in residential aged care and made a number of recommendations. These included action to ensure that oral assessment is carried out on admission to residential aged care; the development of a simple oral health plan for residents; and support for implementation of the oral health plan, including maintenance of oral hygiene and timely dental treatment.

In 2005 a consortium led by the South Australian Dental Service and the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health of the University of Adelaide was awarded a contract with the Australian government to develop and test an oral health assessment and care planning tool for use by GPs in residential aged care facilities. This tool was developed and evaluation showed that it was well accepted by the doctors who were able to accurately identify oral conditions and develop appropriate oral health care plans for residents. These plans included maintenance of oral hygiene as well as referral for dental treatment when necessary. However, this project was not designed to assess the implementation of the care plan.

In 2007 South Australian Dental Service led a new consortium that successfully applied for $1.3 million funding from the Australian government's Encouraging Best Practice in Residential Aged Care. Its members are from DHS in Victoria, the Centre for Oral Health Strategy in New South Wales, the Australian Research Centre for Population Oral Health and six diverse aged care homes across the three states.

This new project tests the ability of registered nurses to use the assessment and care planning toolkit, as well as the impact of implementing the care plan. This includes the maintenance of oral hygiene for residents by care workers and the provision of priority dental treatment by the public dental services. Training staff at the nursing homes involved in the project is a key part of the project to ensure sustainability.

On 1 March 2009, the Minister for Ageing (Hon. Justine Elliot MP) announced details of the nursing home oral and dental healthcare plan, which include: $3 million over three years to establish a nationally consistent approach to dental assessment in the aged care assessment team process for the first time; a specially developed national training package for aged care workers, which covers oral hygiene, care and cleaning of dentures, desensitisation and responding to dry mouth; distraction techniques for people with dementia; and, of course, referral for dental treatment.

This initiative has the potential dramatically to improve the oral health of people in the residential aged care setting, with its emphasis on prevention. The $3 million funding for the dental plan does not support dental treatment flowing from the oral health assessment; however, many residents will be eligible for the Medicare chronic disease dental program. Furthermore, the eventual implementation of the Commonwealth Dental Health Program will also allow this treatment to be provided.

I offer my congratulations to all those involved in the development of the oral health assessment and care planning tool and its implementation in the aged care setting. I also mention the high level of expertise in South Australia provided by the project's steering committee, chaired by Dr Chris Pazios from the Australian Dental Association, and comprising, amongst others, Dr Helena Williams, from the Adelaide Southern Division of General Practice; Ms Megan Corlis, from Aged and Community Services; and Joy Murch, from Aged Care Association Australia.