[NST Club Activities] Oral Care Seminar Held

~Students from three faculties/departments will practice oral care and deepen their understanding of interprofessional collaboration~

On October 12th, the NST (Nutritional Support Team) Club held an "Oral Care Seminar."
In this seminar, Associate Professor Yukiko Sakamoto of Department of Oral Health Sciences Otemae College served as Lecturer. In addition to lectures on oral care, students participated in practical exercises where they practiced oral care on each other.

During the practical training, students first reviewed the basic methods and key points of oral care through demonstrations by instructors. Following this, students from Department of Oral Health Sciences took the lead in providing practical instruction to students from Faculty of Health and Nutrition and Faculty of Global Nursing.

Through the experience of not only "putting into practice" the knowledge and skills acquired in regular classes, but also "clearly communicating them to others," Department of Oral Health Sciences students had an opportunity to reflect on their own learning and deepen their understanding.

Furthermore, for students in Faculty of Health and Nutrition and Faculty of Global Nursing, experiencing oral care firsthand allowed them to realize its difficulty and importance, and provided an opportunity to consider how to approach oral care from their respective fields of expertise and how to connect that to supporting patients and target individuals.

Through the seminar, students from the three faculties and departments learned from each other, bringing together their respective areas of expertise, and realized that oral care is not solely the responsibility of dental professionals, but that it is important for various professions to be involved from their respective positions.

The following comments were received from the participating students:

Natsuki Yoshida, a second-year student Department of Oral Health Sciences
"By practicing and teaching oral care techniques learned in class with students from other departments, I learned the importance of communicating clearly to others. I was also happy and confident when students told me, 'That's easy!' after I explained how to move and remove sponge brushes. I want to utilize this experience in my future studies and practical training."

Mizuki Hirai, a third-year student Faculty of Health and Nutrition
"Through this seminar, I was able to learn about methods for providing oral care to patients. By actually experiencing it, I reaffirmed its difficulty and importance. In particular, I learned that oral care for the elderly is crucial for maintaining chewing and swallowing functions and continuing oral intake, so as a registered dietitian, it is important to pay attention to the condition of the oral cavity and utilize this in nutritional management."

Ayaka Miyata, a second-year student Faculty of Global Nursing
"I learned about oral hygiene knowledge and tools for the target individuals. While direct oral instruction is difficult, I realized that protecting the oral health of the target individuals is not solely the responsibility of dentistry. For example, I can now check whether the tools I use are kept clean when I interact with them. Furthermore, by learning about the roles of various professions and applying that knowledge to my own profession, I felt that the circle of support for the target individuals was interconnected."

The NST Club will continue to create opportunities for students from Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Faculty of Global Nursing, and Department of Oral Health Sciences to interact across departmental boundaries and learn about interprofessional collaboration while utilizing their respective expertise.

(Source: Student Affairs Division Osaka Castle Campus)