The purpose of this thesis was to find out the effectiveness of the ”Tooth Troll at Grandmother’s” operating model from the perspective of home care and oral health care workers. Pilot area was the home care region I and its customers in Lahti. The objective of the operating model was to bring home oral health care services – from preventive to corrective measures – to the clients of home care.
The study examined the expectations and attitudes concerning the model, as well as the opinions on the functionality of the model after its introduction. The data was collected using initial and follow-up questionnaires (N=45). The data was analyzed using the Webropol software.
The results of the study regarding the expectations showed that the respondents were interested in the operating model and that they believed the customers would benefit from it. The introduction of the operating model went smoothly and according to the workers the model is transferable as such to other regions of home care services in Lahti. The insufficient time allocated for the home care workers’ customer visits was seen as a challenge for the successful introduction of the operating model. The respondents stressed the need for refresher training.