| dc.description.abstract | Abstract
Background: Many people today in Norway fall between the cracks of the oral health care system being unable to afford dental treatment. This is the case even with the presence of multiple coverage schemes (subsidies for specific groups) by the government. Those on a low income may particularly face challenges in maintaining their oral health.
Aim: The aim of this study was to uncover how people on low income in Norway interact with the oral health clinics and additional the experience of oral health care system. In particular, the aim was to better understand how being with few financial resources influences their perceptions and use of oral dental health care.
Methods: The gathering of data was done in accordance with a qualitative design. There were 11 participants in the study with varying backgrounds but had in common that they had low income and/or had difficulties accessing oral health clinics. Semi-structured interviews were used, audio recorded and subsequently transcribed verbatim. The questions asked of the participants related to the accessibility, acceptability, quality and affordability of the oral health clinics. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes from the qualitative text with the goal of better understanding the personal perceptions and experiences of the participants of this topic.
Findings: Four themes were generated by the use of thematic analysis. These where: “Wishing for better oral health”, “availability towards the patient needs”, “Wishing for better quality of oral health” and “The good experience”.
Conclusion: The themes indicate that there are multiple barriers of entry when wanting to visit oral health clinics, especially when it comes to bureaucracy inside and outside of oral health clinics. There is also a discrepancy when it comes to knowledge between the participant who had coverage and those who did not, leading to worse outcomes in the oral health among those who did not fall under the coverage plan. Both economic resources and knowledge tended to act as barriers to dental health care and/or bad experiences of treatment.
Implication: The implications of the findings show difficulties in accessing the clinics in affordability, consumer acceptability and information/bureaucracy barriers. For the public health there needs to be more focus on providing information to the person about the structure of the dental health care system and their right to oral health care. Currently most of the focus is upon the dentist or oral health clinics in providing the necessary information for their patients. There needs to be an empowerment of the patient in the form of knowledge or information to allow for better manoeuvring of the oral health sector. | |
