Does Special Care Dentistry undergraduate teaching improve dental student attitudes towards people with disabilities?

Introduction Undergraduate dental curricula increasingly aim to address student attitudes towards people with disabilities. This study reports the effectiveness of a comprehensive, blended learning Special Care Dentistry undergraduate programme to change attitudes towards people with disabilities. M...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of dental education 2015-05, Vol.19 (2), p.107-112
Main Authors: Mac Giolla Phadraig, C., Nunn, J. H., Tornsey, O., Timms, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
attitude
Attitude of Health Personnel
Curricula
Curriculum
Dental Care for Disabled
dental education
Dental schools
dental student
Dentistry
disability
Education, Dental
Educational Measurement
Female
Humans
Ireland
Male
People with disabilities
Psychometrics
Special Care Dentistry
Student attitudes
Students, Dental - psychology
Young Adult
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Summary:Introduction Undergraduate dental curricula increasingly aim to address student attitudes towards people with disabilities. This study reports the effectiveness of a comprehensive, blended learning Special Care Dentistry undergraduate programme to change attitudes towards people with disabilities. Methods A validated psychometric instrument (ATDP‐Form 0) was given as a course evaluation to third‐year dental students in the Dublin Dental University Hospital over 3 years from 2010 to 2013, immediately before and after the delivery of a brief comprehensive curriculum in Special Care Dentistry. Results From a population of 109 students, 100 (91.7%) pre‐test and 83 (76.1%) retest responses were analysed. Mean score before the course, for all years, was 74.8 (SD = 14.7), compared with 76.8 (SD = 14.0) for all years after the course. Conclusions Dental students in our study had neither particularly positive, or negative attitudes towards people with disabilities. There was no statistically significant difference in student attitudes before and after the educational intervention. This study, therefore, shows that a comprehensive undergraduate blended learning module, which aimed to improve attitudes towards people with disabilities, did not do so, using the described measures within the selected timeframe.
ISSN:1396-5883
1600-0579
DOI:10.1111/eje.12110