Durey, A. orcid.org/0000-0001-6382-753X, Ward, P. orcid.org/0000-0002-5559-9714, Haynes, E. et al. (3 more authors) (2024) Applying social practice theory to explore Australian preschool children’s oral health. JDR Clinical & Translational Research, 9 (4). pp. 346-357. ISSN 2380-0844
Abstract
Introduction:
Despite substantial research and provision of dental care, significant morbidity remains for children’s oral health. Guided by social practice theory (SPT), this research moves away from the often-ineffective focus on changing individual behavior to rethinking the centrality of the social world in promoting or undermining oral health outcomes. We define social practice as a routinized relational activity linking and integrating certain elements (competence, materials, and meanings) into the performance of a practice that is reproduced across time and space.
Objective:
To investigate oral health in preschool children in Perth, Western Australia, using social practice theory.
Methods:
With no definitive methodology for investigating SPT, we chose focused ethnography as a problem-focused, context-specific approach using mainly interviews to investigate participants’ experience caring for their children’s oral health. The focus of analysis was the practice of oral health care, not individual behavior, where themes identified from participants’ transcripts were organized into categories of elements and performance.
Results:
Eleven parents, all of whom were married or partnered, were interviewed in 2021. Findings identified social practices relevant to oral health within parenting and family relations linked to routine daily activities, including shopping, consumption of food and beverages, and toothbrushing. Oral health literacy was reflected in integrating competence, materials, and meanings into performing oral health care, notably preferences for children to drink water over sugary beverages and information often being sourced from social media and mothers’ groups rather than health providers.
Conclusion:
Focusing on social practices as the unit of analysis offers a more layered understanding of elements in young children’s oral health care that can indicate where the problem may lie. Findings provide an opportunity to consider future research and policy directions in children’s oral health.
Knowledge Transfer Statement:
Examining social practices related to young children’s oral health care identifies parents/carers’ knowledge about, for example, toothbrushing, the resources required, and why toothbrushing is important. Analyzing these separate elements can reveal both enablers and barriers to oral health care. This provides researchers, clinicians and policymakers an opportunity to focus on not changing individual behavior but understanding how social context impacts parents/carers’ capacity to make optimum decisions around young children’s oral health.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research 2024. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | dental caries; pathology; prevention and control; qualitative research; social determinants of health; social theory |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Clinical Dentistry (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Australian Research Council DP210101166 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 12 Jun 2024 14:44 |
Last Modified: | 23 Sep 2024 10:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/23800844241235615 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:213260 |