ORAL HEALTH PROMOTION HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ESSAY

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The future of Oral Health within the community is no longer just dependent exclusively on the oral health professional. Rather the necessity is evident to involve the Allies of Health within oral health promotion. The old emphasis on just treatment needs to be removed as it hasn’t made a significant reduction in the incidences experienced by an individual as a result of their own oral health problems(NSW Department of Health., 2019). Hence new approach is necceisary, where oral health promotion has been made to help people come to overall health instead of just the illness itself. This new form of oral health promotion aims to have a more of an overall health concentration by considering the determinants of health such as social, environmental, economical and behavioural and the collaboration with allies of health.

The Role of each allied health worker and preventative strategies in addressing community health problems

allied health professionals are important assets for oral health professionals e.g: pharmacist, speech pathologist, child and family nurses and drug and alcohol service personnel. These allied health workers have a responsibility in oral health promotion as well as having a idiosyncratic role themselves as an allied health worker.

Pharmacists have a primary role in the distribution of medications to patients that have been prescribed to them. They play an imperative element in providing patients information by advising patients of the different types of medications available, dosages, and any adverse side effects that the medication may cause and most importantly to ensure the safe and effective use of the medication. They are also at the first point of contact for any questions or queries by the patients who has concerns about health in general and sometimes the first to be approached to find remedies to solve common health issues(Kritikos, 2019). hence the vital need for a pharmacist to be able to educate the community and help manage the health of patients to help improve the result for each individual patient.

Some strategies include:

Pamphlets and advice about drugs and interactions