Phase I

Launching the Oral Health for Mental Health Patients Project

Key Facts

Period October 2020-July 2022
Phase 1 Key partners International Dental Federation, Zimbabwe Dental Association, Zimbabwe College of Psychiatrists, Zimbabwe Life Project, Ministry of Health and Child Care, University of Zimbabwe Departments of Oral Health and Psychiatry
Project Aim Transformation of oral healthcare of mental health patients in Zimbabwe to International Best Practice.
Phase 1 Goals
  1. Production of a Manual on Standard Oral care of persons with mental health conditions
  2. Training of the Mental Health Professionals on the best oral health care practice
  3. Integration of oral health training component to the training of mental health professionals nationally
  4. Improved liaison between mental health and oral health professionals.
Project Scope The project was developed to equip mental health professionals and the patients they serve within Zimbabwe. These professionals include Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurses, Junior Medical Resident Officers, and Registered Nurses who work in the medical and rehabilitative facilities that offer care for mental health patients. The project targeted reaching a total of 200 Mental Health Professionals between the ages of 18 and 60, who ultimately will impact the lives of thousands of patients who they serve yearly.
Targeted beneficiaries Mental healthcare providers; caregivers and communities supporting mental health patients. These included Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurses, Junior Medical Resident Officers, and Registered Nurses who work in the medical and rehabilitative facilities that offer care for mental health patients.
Funder Phase I was possible from funding availed through the World Dental Development Fund of the International Dental Federation.
After noticing that most of the population of mental health patients was neglected and had limited or no access to appropriate oral and mental health care services, the Oral health for mental health patients project Zimbabwe was developed in October 2020. The backbone of the project was that health professionals interact with mental patients when they seek health services as well as in the community. The project aimed to equip them to initiate mental and oral health discussions with patients and detect disease to refer where appropriate. The project targeted 200 Mental Health Professionals between the ages of 18 and 60. 
Collective priorities for the project
    • Upholding the mental and oral health professions
    • Improve patients’ quality of life
    • Abolish oral and mental health inequalities
    • Pursuit of the Non-Communicable Diseases agenda in Oral and mental health
    • Build on Zimbabwe’s research data and information useful in the development of human resources for health
    • Working towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
      1. 3 Establish Good Health and Well-Being,
      2. 10 Reduce Inequality
      3. 2 protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking and violence
      4. 16c Promote and enforce non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development.
      5. 17 Build Partnerships for the Goals

 

Phase I components

1. Preliminary Research

Research was conducted amongst oral and mental health professionals practising in Zimbabwe to assess the oral health knowledge, attitudes and practices of mental health professionals in the management of oral conditions in mental health patients.
Outputs
Knowledge and Attitudes of Mental Health Professionals towards Oral Care of Patients in Zimbabwe
Conference presentation at the International Conference on Public Health 28 July 2022

2. Developing Training Resources

Health education material targeted at patients, dental practitioners, mental health practitioners, caregivers, and the community was developed. An Oral health for mental health patients’ manual was developed and launched on 24 June 2022.
Oral health for mental health patients’ manual
Oral Health assessment toolkit

3. Information dissemination

Oral and mental health stakeholder engagement and Project briefing
Continuous Professional Development workshops for:
  1. Zimbabwe Dental Association (90 oral health professionals)
  2. Zimbabwe College of Psychiatrists (110 healthcare professionals)
Media engagements:

Radio Star FM, speaking engagement on oral health effects of substance abuse Radio Zimbabwe Television Networks ZTN, ZBC, 3KTV Newspapers

  1. Oral Health For Mental Health Patients Manual launched
  2. Oral health challenges due to drug abuse a concern: ZiDA

Other newspapers where dissemination efforts where captured - Health Times, Newsday, Spiked online, Sunday Mail, The Herald, Daily News

Presented in November 2022 at the United States National Academy of Sciences Oral Health meeting

Access proceedings

Launch of the Manual on Oral health of mental health patients in Zimbabwe