- Title
- The impact of oral health on chronic disease and the healthcare system: a policy approach
- Creator
- Price, Kelsey Raelynn
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- The treatment of poor oral health in individual’s diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, or cognitive impairment may prevent the onset and progression of these diseases. As the prevalence of these diseases continues to rise, it is essential to consider all contributing factors. The effectiveness of managing chronic diseases is seen when policy approaches are the earliest focus for change. One of the challenges of a policy approach to address this issue is the utilisation of oral health research in Australian health policy. The aim of my thesis was to assess the inclusion of oral health research into the aforementioned chronic disease policies in Australia and to identify knowledge mobilisation pathways between oral health research and chronic disease policy; the economic impact of this must be considered. Five research studies, one draft policy brief and an opinion piece constitute this thesis. The scoping review of oral health research into chronic disease policies found 21 policies that met the inclusion criteria (Section 1.5). A lack of translation of oral health research into these policies was identified. A citation analysis was then conducted to determine where policymakers were obtaining data during policy development (Section 2.2). This study revealed a large percentage of sources policymakers were accessing was obtained from grey literature and other existing government documents and policies. This highlighted the need to determine the barriers and enablers policymakers experience during policy development. This result influenced my following study, where semi-structured interviews were conducted with (n=12) policymakers (Section 3.2). Policymakers reported several barriers to accessing evidence during policy development including the sheer volume of information and a lack of: research summaries, comprehensive oral health data sets, open access articles, consistency of reporting, and time. They did find relationships with experts crucial to policy development and co-creation of research was a key enabler for policymakers. The effect of political factors on policy development was acknowledged as one of the strongest and most consistent factors. My experience engaging policymakers into this study led to a critical reflection study. This identified the following themes as guidance for recruiting policymakers into the research environment: who you know, what ifs, when is it enough, where is the research going, and why value is important (Section 4.2). My next study applied policy process theories to the data collected from these interviews to determine what could be learnt about how policy can be influenced (Section 5.2). This revealed the importance of mapping policy actors to determine their level of influence ensuring knowledge mobilisation efforts reach the right people, programs, and institutions. The provision of oral health funding through Medicare is a recommendation of this thesis. In response, I developed a sample policy brief based on my research which was reviewed by the office of the Federal Health Minister (Section 6.2). In culmination of my thesis, my opinion piece written for InSight+ was distributed to 55,000 subscribers and 70,000 online readers (Section 7.2). The findings from my research provide evidence of knowledge mobilisation pathways that can be used to translate oral health research into chronic disease policy. Policy recommendations should be informed by research and research connecting poor oral health with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cognitive impairment should be translated into Australian health policy. My research has attracted international and national interest and has opened dialogue with oral health stakeholders, government agencies and medical professionals to understand the importance of including oral health in general health policy. Overall, my research has identified the critical need for evidence-based policy to include oral health within general health policy. This holistic approach to chronic disease management is crucial for creating change that will positively influence individual and community health outcomes.
- Subject
- health policy; oral health; chronic disease; mixed methods research; cardiovascular disease
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1519692
- Identifier
- uon:57416
- Rights
- Copyright 2024 Kelsey Raelynn Price
- Language
- eng
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