Reimagining oral health professionalism in Africa: a narrative from the margins
Clinical Scorecard: Transforming Oral Health Professionalism in Africa: Insights from Marginalized Perspectives
At a Glance
| Category | Detail |
|---|
| Condition | Oral health professionalism in Africa |
| Key Mechanisms | Critique of colonial epistemologies and proposal of an Ubuntu-informed relational framework |
| Target Population | Yorùbá communities and other marginalized populations in Africa |
| Care Setting | Dental education and oral health services |
Key Highlights
- Colonial epistemologies privilege clinical detachment and exclude indigenous knowledge systems.
- An Ubuntu-informed alternative emphasizes mutual vulnerability and clinical empathy.
- Transformations in curriculum and governance are necessary to address epistemic injustices.
- Oral health is viewed as integral to spiritual personhood in Yorùbá culture.
- Modern dental service utilization remains low despite cultural reverence for oral health.
Guideline-Based Recommendations
Diagnosis
- Critique the Western epistemological foundations of oral health professionalism.
Management
- Adopt an Ubuntu-informed framework that centers marginalized community experiences.
Monitoring & Follow-up
- Evaluate the impact of relational approaches on oral health outcomes.
Risks
- Address the disjuncture between professional training and community worldviews.
Patient & Prescribing Data
Marginalized communities, particularly Yorùbá populations in Southwest Nigeria
Oral health care is linked to broader concepts of dignity, self-care, and spiritual balance.
Clinical Best Practices
- Integrate community-based participatory research into dental education.
- Foster an ecological professional identity that values relational knowing.
Related Resources & Content
