Qualitative exploration of dental and health care personnel’s awareness of signs displayed in victims of torture with focus on the oral cavity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7146/torture.v32i3.127791Keywords:
torture, oral cavity, dental personnel, health care personnelAbstract
Abstract
Introduction Numerous torture victims have experienced severe physical or phycological trauma to their face, mouth, and teeth. A dental visit carries a risk for torture survivors to relive the trauma, since the situation may trigger a recollection of previous suffering. Although health care personnel at resource center for torture victims are equipped with various tools to help and assist these individuals in their rehabilitation, very few centers have protocols in place to refer out victims to dental professionals with experience and knowledge in the area. The aim of this study was to investigate the extent of dental and health care personnel’s knowledge and awareness to detect various torture signs with focus on the oral cavity.
Material and Methods Dental (n=16) and health care (n=6) personnel conducted individual interviews, group interviews, and qualitative data from a questionnaire. All interviews were transcribed, and a phenomenological-hermeneutical method was used to analyze the participants' answers.
Results Six health care and 16 dental personnel answered the questionnaire, and 5 health care and 16 dental personnel participated in the interviews. Dental personnel demonstrated a lack of knowledge and experiences regarding signs of torture with focus on the oral cavity, nor a multidisciplinary collaboration on torture victims. Most of the health care personnel had clear suggestions for external signs of torture and showed good knowledge of how to refer a torture victim to dental personnel.
Discussion Through a multidisciplinary approach, potential harmful long-term effects resulting from dental care visits can be prevented and the approach can additionally contribute to better resource utilization in health care. There is a need for increased awareness and knowledge of injuries and signs resulting from torture in the oral cavity among dental and health care personnel.
References
Abu-Awwad, M., AL-Omoush, S., Shqaidef, A., Hilal, N., & Hassona, Y. (2020). Oral health-related quality of life among Syrian refugees in Jordan: a cross-sectional study. International Dental Journal, 70, 45-52. doi: 10.1111/idj.12521
Arge, SO., Hansen, SH., & Lynnerup, N. (2014). Forensic odontological examinations of alleged torture victims at the University of Copenhagen 1997-2011. Torture, 24, 17-24
Caldas, IM., Magalhaes, T., Afonso, A., & Matos, E. (2010). The consequences of orofacial trauma resulting from violence: a study in Porto. Dent Traumatol., 26, 484-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-9657.2010.00936.x
Di Napoli, A., Baglio, G., Bracci, C., Taviani, A., Zerbino, E., & Romano, V. (2005). Torture survivor asylum seekers in Italy: the experience of the humanitarian association Doctors Against Torture, 17, 343-50
Graneheim, UH., & Lundman, B. (2004). Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today, 24, 105-112. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt
Hoyvik, A., Lie, B., & Willumsen, T. (2019). Dental anxiety in relation to torture experiences and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Eur J Oral Sci., 127, 65-71. doi: 10.1111/eos.12592
Keller, AS., Weiss, J., Resnick, S., Berkowitz, L., Soeprono, A., Sullivan, MJ., Granski, M., Cere, E., & Wolff, M. (2014). Lessons in health and human rights: providing dental care to torture survivors. J Am Coll Dent., 81, 36-40
Krippendorff, K. (2004. Content analysis. An introduction to its methodology. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Lamb, CEF., Whelan, AK., & Michaels, C. (2009). Refugees and oral health: lessons learned from stories of Hazara refugees. Australian Health Review, 33, 618-27. doi: 10.1071/ah090618
Ozkalipci, Ö., Sahlin, U., Baykal, T., Fincanci, SK., Akhan, O., Öztop, F., & Lök, V. (2010). Atlas of torture, use of medical and diagnostic examination results in medical assessment of torture. Human Rights of Turkey Publications, 68. Ankara
Singh, HK., Scott, TE., Henshaw, MM., Cote, SE., Grodin, MA., & Piwowarczyk, LA. (2008). Oral Health status of refugee torture survivors seeking care in the United States. Am J Public Health., 98, 2181-2. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.120063
UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Manual on the Effective Investigation and Documentation of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Istanbul Protocol). (2004)
World Medical Association. WMA Declaration of Helsinki - Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. (2021). https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Torture Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
We accept that some authors (e.g. government employees in some countries) are unable to transfer copyright. The Creative Commons Licence Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) covers both the Torture Journal and the IRCT web site. The publisher will not put any limitation on the personal freedom of the author to use material contained in the paper in other works which may be published, provided that acknowledgement is made to the original place of publication.
