Water Protocols: The Supportive Evidence, the Limited Evidence, and the Importance of Clinical Judgment

Course overview

Water protocols have long been controversial as dysphagia management practices and likely will continue to be controversial for the foreseeable future. This course covers the evolution of water protocols including why they were developed and why they continue to be relevant today. Water protocol studies published by clinician researchers as well as supportive literature from the related fields of nutrition, nursing, pulmonology, dentistry and periodontology, and infectious disease are discussed. The integration of the interdisciplinary views of dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, dehydration, hydration, optimal wellness, and quality of life form the basis for consideration of this humane approach to dysphagia intervention.