Why is an oral health care plan useful?

An oral health care plan:

• Enables a person to be involved in the design of their support
• Identifies the abilities and support needs of each person
• Can help to reduce challenges for staff by noting the most successful mouth care support strategies
• Shares valuable information between different people who may support the same person
• Allows new staff to quickly understand support needs
• Communicates information about the person’s daily routine to their oral health professional

Who should have one?

An oral health care plan is really useful where people a number of staff are likely to support one person, such as in supported housing.

It can also be used in a one-on-one support situation.

Who should write it?

Often a person’s key support worker will coordinate this. Wherever possible, they will be directed by the person and any other relevant part of the person’s support team; family, other staff, their oral health professional, an occupational therapist or speech pathologist, etc.

How do you write an oral health care plan?

You may like to use this oral health care plan template or adapt an existing health care template you already use.

A helpful first step may be to complete a task breakdown checklist. This can help work out which parts of the daily care routine the person can do independently and where they might want support.