Stories at the Dentist.

智障人士的健康和福祉面临的一个主要挑战是残疾患者和牙医所经历的焦虑程度。当智障患者焦虑时，他们可能会变得防御性，并在牙医试图治疗他们时表现出挑战性的行为。因此，要么放弃这一程序，要么给患者注射镇静剂。需要镇静是牙科的一个常见问题，因为智障患者通常需要全身麻醉剂来进行简单的牙科治疗。这增加了风险，延长了康复时间，并增加了NHS的手术成本。患者焦虑的一个原因是患者与牙医之间的沟通困难。特别是，牙医很难以一种他们能理解的方式向智障患者提供他们所需治疗的信息。无法理解即将发生的事情，也无法表达自己的感受，这会让去看牙医的人感到恐惧和紧张。此外，获得所有患者的知情同意或同意被认为是良好的做法。然而，临床医生通常不确定智障患者是否理解了程序的解释。智障患者很难理解抽象信息与他们的关系，结果是，与普通人群相比，智障患者发现做出医疗决策的难度要大得多。本研究旨在开发一套以电脑为基础的沟通系统，以支持智障人士了解牙科治疗程序，以减少患者和临床医生的焦虑，并让患者更多地参与决策过程。该系统将在平板设备上运行，例如iPad。该系统将自动生成一个关于牙科手术的故事，这是为患者个性化的。这将允许牙医使用图形界面向患者解释程序。患者将能够使用该系统询问有关过程的问题并表达他们的感受。我们知道，改善沟通可以减少患者和牙医的焦虑。这项研究将调查向智障患者提供更多信息是否会改善以下方面的结果：(I)患者；(Ii)从业者；(Iii)通过减少支持智障患者所需的时间和资源来改善医疗服务。虽然这有可能在整个医疗服务中产生好处，但这项研究将集中在牙齿健康上。

A major challenge facing the health and wellbeing of people with intellectual disabilities is the level of anxiety experienced by both the disabled patient and the dentist. When a patient with intellectual disabilities is anxious, they may become defensive and exhibit challenging behaviour when the dentist attempts to treat them. As a result of this, the procedure may have to either be abandoned or the patient sedated. The need for sedation is a common problem in dentistry as patients with intellectual disabilities often require a general anaesthetic for simple dental treatment. This carries increased risks, a longer recovery time and increases the cost of the procedure to the NHS.One reason for patients' anxiety is the difficulty in communication between patient and dentist. In particular, it can be difficult for dentists to provide patients with intellectual disabilities with information about the treatment they require in a way that they can understand. An inability to understand what is about to happen or to express feelings makes a visit to the dentist frightening and stressful. In addition, it is considered good practice to obtain informed consent or assent from all patients. However, clinicians are often unsure if a patient with intellectual disabilities has understood explanations of procedures. It is difficult for people with intellectual disabilities to understand how abstract information relates to them with the result that, compared to the general population, patients with intellectual disabilities find it significantly more difficult to make healthcare decisions. This study aims to develop a computer based communication system to support people with intellectual disabilities to understand dental procedures with the aim of reducing anxiety for both patients and clinicians, and to enable patients to be more involved in the decision making process. The system will run on a tablet device, e.g. an iPad. The system will automatically generate a story about a dental procedure which is personalised to the patient. This will allow the dentist to explain the procedure to the patient using a graphical interface. The patient will be able to use the system to ask questions about the procedure and express their feelings.We know that improved communication reduces the anxiety in both the patient and the dentist. This research will investigate whether giving more information to patients with intellectual disabilities improves the outcomes for: (i) the patient; (ii) the practitioner; and (iii) the health service by reducing the time and the resources required to support patients with intellectual disabilities. While this has the potential to produce benefits across the health service, this study will focus on dental health.