Word of Mouth - School of Public Health and Community Medicine ...

Word of Mouth36to go with what materials and instruments wereavailable, as described on the clinic’s informationsheet: We were easy to get along with. By far themajority found the set up very satisfactory and,for those few who felt they did need somethingextra, the problem was easily overcome.Some dental volunteers used to different typesof matrix bonds and lining sets have decidedto bring their own and, when it was time togo, have offered to leave behind any unusedmaterials for the next practitioner.One volunteer was very happy that the chairscould be set up for right or left hand use. Thehygienist who visited was grateful to find agood ultrasonic scaler but mentioned that ifmore hygienists came they might need somemore hand instruments. Some again offered toextend their voluntary contribution by askingsupply houses to donate relevant materials,such as endodontic materials; and in one case,a volunteer dentist had an x-ray developingmachine donated by a dental company.A prescription pad is provided by the clinic and thevolunteers have to supply their own provider andprescriber numbers and fill them out as they go.Programming appointmentsWhen possible, the Dental Manager arranges forvolunteer visits to occur over consecutive weeks.On arrival at the Base Clinic, the volunteersgenerally find a full book of appointments hasbeen arranged, including new as well as followupwork. Many volunteers stay at the Base, withonly a few volunteering to go out for a period– of about one week – in the Mobile Clinic; adecision usually made after they arrive.At the time of the Evaluation Team’s site visit,it was found that the mobile van service mightonly reach some communities around once ayear. One of the implications of not being ableto plan mobile visits ahead of time was a shortlead time in setting up appointments. Patientsdo, however, get wind of a visit by the MobileClinic: This community full stop works on word ofmouth really (Wuchopperen staff member).You’ll get a whole heap of families come in atthe one time, like they’ll spread the word thatthere’s a volunteer dentist in town (Dental unitstaff member).We’ve rung families … that might want a dentalappointment and ... it must just be gettingpassed along the grapevine that there’s adentist in town, because people are comingin and asking if there’s a dental van as well!(Outreach service staff member).Usually, Base Clinic staff will set up appointmentsfor the Mobile Clinic, although local staff will alsoring around. A comment from one such localsuggests just how complicated the process is ofsetting up times and appointments for people tosee the mobile service:We try to rely on word of mouth and we try to,like, ring certain family members and say, ‘Youtell everyone about that,’ and that sort of thingand, you know; we do a lot of just whoeverrings up for appointments and that sort ofthing. We’ll say, ‘Oh! Did you know the dentistis coming?’ And then we’ll all look at everyonewho’s, you know … it’s been so long. We usedto keep a list of people who have said, ‘Oh!I’ve got a dental problem …’. But it’s been solong we’ll probably scrap the list … We used tothink of going back to the health care check,but by the time we’ve rung up all the chronicdisease clients to let them know, and justtargeted families, we thought we’d pretty muchcovered everyone … We’ve reached out to asmany people and by then the books were full …But ideally … everyone who’s had their healthcheck, should get an opportunity to go throughthe dentist, but then we thought, ‘Oh! It’s beenso long, it’s unfair to, you know, book it up withpeople who may not need it. We should ringaround and get people who need it to comein’ (Outreach service staff member).Most of the patients that we spoke to stated justhow appreciative they were to get appointmentswith, and make it to see, the dentist. A persistentobstacle is that clients’ contact phone numberschange and the tendency is to not let dentalstaff know their new numbers. Staff areencouraged to enter up-to-date numbers in theappointment book when they can.