GUM®, an oral care brand of Sunstar, has launched a free online course for oral health professionals seeking to improve patient compliance.
Comprising five 25-minute modules, the practical training programme is designed to equip oral health professionals with the skills and knowledge to foster better patient compliance and apply evidence-based behavioural change models chairside.
The course, ‘Patient compliance in oral care: A hands-on course in behavioural change’ features insights from leading international experts, including prof. Tim Newton, professor of psychology as applied to dentistry at King’s College London.
Further experts who contributed their evidence-based insights to the course include Sandra Lod Dimenäs, a lecturer and dental hygienist from Gothenburg University, Sweden, whose PhD research assessed behavioural change interventions from the perspective of both patients and oral health professionals.
The free course is available to dental professionals seeking to transform patient outcomes through practical behavioural change techniques and master established behavioural change strategies to enhance patient engagement and motivation.
After completing the course, dental professionals will have a deep understanding of behavioural change theory and will have practised real-world interventions through hands-on exercises and role-playing, empowering patients to take control of their own oral health journey.
Aiming to equip dental practitioners with a complete set of tools to address the persistent challenge of patient compliance in oral care, the engaging bite-sized modules demonstrate how small behavioural changes can lead to significant and lasting improvements in both oral and systemic health.
To extend course learning, GUM has also launched a LinkedIn behavioural change community group so like-minded dental professionals can connect, exchange further ideas and ask questions directly to its experts.
Prof. Tim Newton comments: “One of the most important things we can do as healthcare professionals is to support our patients and the public to take control of their health. We do this by coaching them in the skills they will need. It’s not always easy to do. We have developed this resource to support oral health professionals in that task.”
Martijn Verhulst, medical liaison manager, Sunstar Global, adds: “Sunstar and GUM® are strong supporters of oral health professionals and this programme will help them tackle their arguably most prominent pain point: patient compliance. We hope this course will be the start of a community of engaged oral health professionals, driving positive behavioural change globally.”
Dental professionals can enrol for the free GUM course using this link: https://professional.sunstargum.com/en-en/learning/training-materials/patient-compliance-in-oral-care.html
