Bilingual flipcharts help improve oral health-related knowledge and self-efficacy of Korean-American caregivers of preschoolers

• Published in: Journal of public health dentistry Vol. 74; no. 4; pp. 261 - 265
• Main Authors: Chi, Donald L., Ko, Alice, Kim, Jeffrey Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: acculturation; Adult; Asian Americans; Bilingualism; Caregivers; Child, Preschool; Dental caries; Dentistry; early childhood caries; Focus Groups; health belief model; Health promotion; Humans; infant; Knowledge; Korean-American caregiver; Oral Health; Oral hygiene; Pilot Projects; Preschool children; Republic of Korea - ethnology; Self Efficacy; Republic of Korea; Korean-American caregiver; health belief model; early childhood caries; self-efficacy; oral health; acculturation; infant
• ISSN: 0022-4006; 1752-7325
• DOI: 10.1111/jphd.12073

Objective
We have limited knowledge on ways to improve oral health‐related behaviors for caregivers of minority preschoolers. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of a bilingual educational flipchart.
Methods
We piloted a bilingual flipchart with Korean‐American caregivers of preschoolers (n = 219) and administered pre‐/post‐intervention surveys. The paired t‐test evaluated changes in knowledge and self‐efficacy (for all caregivers and stratified by acculturation).
Results
There were significant improvements in knowledge on the bacterial etiology of tooth decay (P = 0.02), mother‐to‐child transmission of tooth decay (P = 0.03), fluoride toothpaste safety (P < 0.0001), and dental visit frequency (P < 0.0001). Caregivers' self‐efficacy to keep their child's teeth healthy also improved (P < 0.0001). There were differences in knowledge measures based on caregivers' acculturation.
Conclusions
Bilingual educational materials help improve the oral health‐related knowledge and self‐efficacy of Korean‐American caregivers of preschoolers. Larger confirmatory studies are needed and future work should evaluate clinical outcomes associated with improved knowledge and self‐efficacy.