Volume 7 • 2020 • Issue 7

T he COVID-19 pandemic has brought the health and well-being of people who live in LTC facilities in Canada to the forefront of the public consciousness. LTC residents have historically been more susceptible to respiratory diseases; in the US, pneumonia affects 250,000 LTC residents annually. Pneumonia caused by aspiration of microorganisms in the oral cavity was first hypothesized 30 years ago and many studies have demonstrated it. This new study 1 suggests that a few practical changes to daily care can significantly reduce pneumonia among LTC residents. “What’s new about our study is that it showed that mouth care provided by LTC staff as part of standard care could significantly improve oral hygiene and reduce pneumonia,” says Dr. Sheryl Zimmerman, who led the study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “A few other studies have shown that mouth care provided by dental hygienists, or more regularly than is realistic, could also be beneficial, but that type of care isn’t feasible or sustainable in today's long-term care settings.” Oral hygiene training of staff reduces pneumonia in long-term care facilities Research question: Can staff reduce pneumonia by providing daily mouth care to long-term care (LTC) residents? Study: Participants included 2,152 LTC residents in North Carolina. Some were in an intervention group and others in a control group. The study took place over two years. The intervention was training LTC facility staff in Mouth Care Without a Battle , an evidence-based person-centered approach to daily mouth care—tooth brushing and flossing—for persons with cognitive and physical impairment. Main result: In the first year, LTC facilities that were in the intervention group saw a 26% to 31% reduction of pneumonia cases compared to the control group. In the second year, the effect was not significant because care was provided less often. Dr. Sheryl Zimmerman Co-director of the Program on Aging, Disability, and Long-Term Care at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill S upporting Y our P ractice 36 | 2020 | Issue 7