Acquaintance, Attitude, Practices and Challenges of Palliative Oral Care among Healthcare Professionals: A Cross-sectional Survey at a Tertiary Healthcare Institute

Aim: This study aimed to review the significance of knowledge, experiences, perceptions and barriers of healthcare professionals regarding palliative oral care. Methods: Study involved 150 health care professionals at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India. Data collection tool was pretested, validated self-administered with sections on demographics, knowledge, attitude and practices, referral of patients, perspectives, and barriers to oral palliative care. Results: Majority of participants (94.6%) believed that patients under palliative care need oral care, 68.6% participants had treated palliative patients with dental problem. However, only 23.3% had received formal training for palliative patients with oral health problems and 63.3% participants had never used a tool to assess oral conditions of palliative patients. According to 46% the best method to maintain oral hygiene is by rinsing with saline and 74% expected dentist to be responsible for oral care of palliative patients. Absence of proper guidelines and lack formal training according to 54.6% participants was the top challenge in providing oral care for palliative patients. Conclusion: This study highlighted that without effective assessment of the mouth, the appropriate implementation of care cannot not be delivered. To overcome this hurdle in future, training of healthcare professionals and educating family members of patients with “Oral palliative care” skills are necessary approaches to empower them to confidently manage oral symptoms of their care recipients. An appropriate patient follow-up and care delivery system must be carefully and logically structured in close proximity to the comprehensive cancer care centres, which can improve the compliance of patients. There is a need for development of assessment tools and referral practices to enhance the quality of care and increase awareness among all health care professionals of palliative oral care for providing relief, comfort and consolation to terminally ill patients and their families.