Development and Assessment of a Meal Assistance and Oral Care Module for Care Workers in Asian Countries

This study investigates the effectiveness of meal assistance and oral care checklists developed during the previous ERIA project (FY 2018-2019). The research involved multiple stages, including field data collection to assess the physical and mental conditions of older adults in Indonesia, enabling the development of an oral care module. Subsequently, an oral care module was created based on the previous stage's outline and distributed to participants in a 2-day intervention study. Field data collection involved the assessment of physical and mental conditions, as well as oral and swallowing functions of the target population, which provided essential insights for designing the oral care module. The module, presented in a handbook format, was distributed to 17 care workers from private long-term care institutions and 22 care workers from government-owned long-term care institutions. The intervention study revealed significant improvements in knowledge scores amongst the trainees before and after the training, regardless of the demographic characteristics of the study groups. These findings validate the efficacy of the training module in enhancing care providers' knowledge and skills. The study's results hold promise for the development of a policy brief, which could facilitate appropriate care for older adults in Indonesia. The government and long-term care providers can benefit from these insights, making informed decisions and implementing effective care practices.