Improving interventions for oral frailty in older adults: a qualitative study of barriers and pathways from the perspective of oral healthcare professionals

To analyze the current understanding of oral frailty and identify barriers to optimization of interventions for oral frailty in older adults among oral healthcare professionals in China, to inform the development of systematic intervention programs. A Husserlian descriptive phenomenological methodology was adopted to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of oral healthcare professionals regarding oral frailty interventions. A total of 15 oral healthcare professionals from Shenzhen Luohu Hospital Group in Shenzhen, China, were selected by purposive and snowball sampling. Participants underwent semi-structured interviews, and themes were analyzed using Colaizzi’s method. Four themes emerged: fragmented understanding of oral frailty, differing views on health education settings, inconsistencies in assessment and management practices, and systemic barriers affecting intervention implementation. Oral healthcare professionals in China exhibited a “high willingness–low initiative” conflict regarding intervention for oral frailty in older adults. These findings suggest that strengthening education and training, developing standardized assessment and intervention tools, promoting multidisciplinary collaboration, and improving policy support may help bridge the gap between understanding and practice and facilitate the implementation of oral frailty interventions for older adults.