Article Sidebar
Published:
Mar 18, 2020Keywords:
Article Details
The author(s) retain copyright on work published by AOSIS unless specified otherwise.
Licensing and publication rights
Author(s) of work published by AOSIS are required to grant AOSIS the unlimited rights to publish the definitive work in any format, language and medium, for any lawful purpose. AOSIS requires journal authors to publish their work in open access under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.
The authors retain the non-exclusive right to do anything they wish with the published article(s), provided attribution is given to the applicable journal with details of the original publication, as set out in the official citation of the article published in the journal. The retained right specifically includes the right to post the article on the authors’ or their institution’s websites or in institutional repositories.
Previously published work may have been published under a different licence. We advise the community that if they would like to reuse the work to consult the applicable licence at article level.
Note: If you need to comply with your funding body policy, you can apply for the CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.
Main Article Content
A conceptual framework to guide public oral health planning in Limpopo province
Abstract
Background: There is limited understanding of the complexities surrounding public oral health service delivery in South Africa and the resulting impact on oral health outcomes.
Aim: This study aimed to identify the strengths and challenges in oral health decision-making within the public health sector and to propose a conceptual framework to guide oral health service delivery in the province.
Setting: This study was performed in the Limpopo province.
Methods: National and provincial health policy documents were reviewed to identify statements on oral health service delivery. A face-to-face, semi-structured interview was conducted with the Limpopo Provincial Manager of Department of Health, Oral Health Services. Data were collected on oral health policies and the organisational structure of public oral health services. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by five district managers of public oral health services to obtain data on the delivery of public oral health services in Limpopo province.
Results: The results indicated that oral healthcare was not explicitly mentioned, included or referred to in the examined health policy documents. The interviews indicated that public oral health services do not have a dedicated budget and were not considered a priority. The questionnaire results revealed challenges in infrastructure, human resources and perceived marginalisation from the healthcare services. Participants agreed that there was a need for oral health to be clearly expressed and prioritised in health policy statements.
Conclusion: This study proposed a framework that incorporated the identified core components that influenced oral health services provision in Limpopo province.
Keywords: Oral health; Policy; Priority; Budget; Incorporation; Integration.
