Torture victims' perspective on dental treatment: "Every sign you make, every move you take" - A qualitative study.
Eur J Oral Sci
; 132(5): e13007, 2024 Oct.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39016611
ABSTRACT
Torture victims struggling with post-traumatic stress often experience elements in the dental treatment situation that may trigger trauma-related reactions. The aim of the study was to explore intervention strategies that will enable dental health workers to adapt dental treatment to the needs of torture survivors. Exploratory interviews were conducted with 10 torture-exposed resettled refugees with dental treatment experience in Norway. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis, which suggested that to minimize trauma-reactions, dental personnel should focus on creating a safe therapeutic space and strengthening the patient's sense of control. Four main categories of clinical advice were proposed (i) Acquire knowledge about psychology, consequences of torture, cultural differences, trauma-informed care, and the patients' individual needs; (ii) Recognize the trigger-potential of busyness or delays; (iii) Avoid surprises, such as sudden moves or actions and explore triggers individually, but make sure not to evoke images of interrogation, and; (iv) Provide overview both with respect to visibility in the clinical room, and to predictability regarding the dental treatment. Although undergoing dental treatment may be challenging for torture-exposed individuals, it is possible to reduce the predicaments considerably by making feasible adaptions to the treatment and adopting a trauma-informed approach.
Key words
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Refugees
/
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic
/
Torture
/
Dental Care
/
Qualitative Research
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
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Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
Eur J Oral Sci
/
Eur. j. oral sci
/
European journal of oral sciences
Journal subject:
ODONTOLOGIA
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Norway