Automated coaching to help parents increase their children's brushing frequency: an exploratory trial.
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Date
2013-07-29
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Abstract
UNLABELLED Advances in digital communication such as the internet now provide a cost effective channel to reach and help families struggling to establish good oral hygiene in their homes This paper describes a novel internet based oral hygiene intervention whose design draws from advances in social cognitive models of behaviour change Intervention components included role modelling cartoons for children a guide for parents on using rewards a personalised plan with clear steps tips to follow and a weekly 10 minute review of progress OBJECTIVE To evaluate the efficacy of the online coaching programme specifically we expected that those in the intervention group would brush their teeth more frequently during the intervention period than those in the control group BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN An exploratory trial using a randomised controlled parallel approach PARTICIPANTS Children aged 5 to 9 years from 44 families 23 control and 21 intervention MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE An objective monitoring of tooth brushing RESULTS In the 3 week intervention period children from families assigned to the coaching programme brushed their teeth 38 more often than those in the control group CONCLUSIONS The programme was effective in a number of respects Opportunities for further research are discussed including the need to create a more engaging system and so increase compliance
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Keywords
Child, Client, Parents, Access to information or data, Pilot, Feasibility, Experimental, Randomized, Oral health, Health education or promotion, Internet