New Oral Health Education Resource for Secondary Schools

After identifying the lack of a resource to support oral health education in secondary schools, the Canterbury, South Canterbury and West Coast Regional Coordination Service for Adolescent Oral Health worked to develop such a resource.  During 2010 the resource was trialled with several secondary schools and received great feedback from both teachers and students.  Christa Clyde, a Health and PE teacher from Linwood College, commented that:

I presented parts of the resource to my low band year 10 class and I found most of the resource I used were very useful. The students responded well to the information and many of them were actually thinking about what they had learned, which was great.

Why Teach Oral Health at Secondary School?

Oral health may seem like a small issue when compared to other significant health issues affecting teenagers. However, oral health can have a significant effect on all aspects of a person's hauora - from physical pain and dysfunction to impacts on self esteem, personal relationships and employment options.  Data from the School Dental Service show that a significant amount of children have already experienced dental decay by the time they reach adolescence. In 2009 49% of Canterbury Year 8 students, 57% South Canterbury Year 8 students, and 57% Year 8 West Coast Year 8 students had experienced dental decay.[1]

The Resource

The activities in the Oral Health Education Resource have been developed to engage and educate students about oral health and are related to Level 5 of the Health and Physical Education Learning Area in the New Zealand Curriculum. The resource has a flexible structure so that teachers can choose what activities to use according to their students' needs, and their teaching plans and time available. As oral health relates well to other areas of health, the oral health activities can also be used to complement learning that is taking place within existing units in school health programmes.

The resource contains:

•·         a teachers guide to the oral health activities and their link to the New Zealand Curriculum,

•·         worksheets for the students matching each activity,

•·         complimentary oral health promotional resources/materials.

This resource is available to borrow from our WAVE Resource Centre.

We also have oral health products, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, available for low decile (1-5) secondary schools in Canterbury, South Canterbury and the West Coast utilising the resource for their Year 9 or 10 health programme.

The resource will be distributed to all secondary schools in Canterbury, South Canterbury and the West Coast at the beginning of November 2010.

For more information see www.cdhb.govt.nz/dentalcare/youth or contact Bronwyn Beavon (oral health promoter) on email: bronwyn.beavon@cdhb.govt.nz, or ph: 03 687 2621.

BRONWYN BEAVON JOB ROLE:   To support Early Childhood Education Services and Primary Schools to promote oral health.
BACKGROUND:  New Zealand Registered Dietitian I love food - I enjoy reading about it, cooking it, but most importantly sitting and sharing it with others
FAVOURITES:  Physical Activity: Walking my 2 dogs - Rodger and Ruby, gardening my ever weedy garden..... Food: Spag bol, stuffed baked kumaras, local salmon and falafel kebabs Drink: Water - it's best and it's free!                    Saying: "No worries"
BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB: No one day is the same! This role allows me to be creative and think outside the square.
LOOKING FORWARD TO:  Supporting Early Childhood Education Services and Primary Schools with their initiatives to promote oral health.
CONTACT DETAILS: Phone:  03 687 2621 DD Email:   bronwyn.beavon@cdhb.govt.nz

 

[1] http://www.moh.govt.nz/moh.nsf/indexmh/oralhealth-statistics