Dental student project makes a difference to the over 50s in Plymouth

The Elder Tree Befriending Service aims to prevent isolation and loneliness in people over the age of 50 in Plymouth. As part of their project, the dental students spoke with service users, managers and staff and found a way to alleviate loneliness while at the same time providing healthy living and oral care advice.

The students worked with service users to develop an eat well rainbow, which helped to promote key messages around maintaining a balanced diet. The students also used their feedback to create a holistic health booklet with oral and general health advice.

The booklet will now be used by the Elder Tree Befriending Service for all its service users, and there are plans to produce a Braille version.

At the end of the project the students handed out gifts to service users, including a jigsaw puzzle featuring pictures from their visits.

The project was very popular with service users from the Elder Tree Befriending Service. Comments included: “A lovely group of future dentists, with helpful advice”;“Such a pleasure to have met them all and the book is very informative”; and,“The best part of this was the friendly advice they gave us.”