Oral Health and People with Learning Disabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Oral health and people with learning disabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

There are approximately one million adults with disabilities in Saudi Arabia (Waldman et al. 2010). Access to oral healthcare for adults with learning disabilities in particular would appear to be problematic with similar issues to those of people with learning disabilities in the UK (Al-Shehri 2012). Oral health for adults with learning disabilities appears to be worse than that of the general population, with higher levels of need for people with more profound impairments.

Policies for people with disabilities in Saudi Arabia were originally developed in the 1980s. For example, Legislation of Disability (LD) was passed in 1987 as the first legislation for people with disabilities in Saudi Arabia. This policy advocates that people with disabilities should have rights equal to those of other people in society. The Disability Code was also passed in 2000 and recommended that people with disabilities should have free access to appropriate health, social and educational services in the Kingdom, but access is brokered through public agencies (Prince Salman Centre for Disability Research, 2004). Furthermore, later policies support independent living for people with disabilities (Ministry of Health Care, 2010).

Despite these policies, there appears to be a paucity of information around oral health service provision for people with disabilities in Saudi Arabia. Therefore the aim of this study is to explore oral health service provision for people with learning disabilities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

References

AL-Shehri , S, A, M.,(2012). Access to dental care for persons with disabilities in Saudi Arabia (Caregivers’ perspective). Journal of Disability and Oral Health. Vol. 13(2): 51-61.

Ministry of Health Care. (2010). Care of people with disabilities. Retrieved from Ministry of Health Care website: http://mosa.gov.sa/portal/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=11

Prince Salman Center for Disability Research. (2004). Kingdom of Saudi Arabia provision code for persons with disabilities. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Prince Salman Center for Disability Research.

Waldman, H, B., Al-Nowaiser , A, M., Hamed, M, T., and Perlman, S, P., (2010). Dentistry for individuals with special needs in Saudi Arabia: a commentary. Journal of Disability and Oral Health. Vol. 11(2): 57-60.

Requirements:

An upper 2:1 or first class honours degree in any area and preferably a Masters gained at a European or North American institution at merit or distinction overall. The potential student must have some knowledge of the social and behavioural sciences, and an understanding of qualitative research. This is exploratory research and so there needs to be a willingness to develop future links within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The ability to speak Arabic and write in English fluently is essential, and the student must be a Saudi resident in order to appreciate the cultural, social, and religious practices.