If They Choke, No Heimlich? Ethical Considerations for SLPs

Course overview

Ethics Committees in hospitals facilitate decision making and support clinical care, taking into consideration multiple values and perspectives. Members should represent diverse skills, experiences, and knowledge. This course includes a case review of a man with dementia living in a long-term care facility. He is not communicative, sits in a wheelchair, has some swallowing difficulties, and is unable to feed himself. There are DNR, DNI, and DNH orders in his medical record. His family has asked that a Heimlich maneuver not be performed if he were to choke. This presentation will reveal emerging ethical challenges in healthcare and explore the role of the SLP as an integral member of the ethics team, particularly when questions include communication and swallowing components.