Dysphagia In The Medically Fragile And Frail Elder: Management And Decision-Making

Course overview

Problems with swallowing, feeding, diet, and nutrition are common in the medically fragile and frail elder and often emerge during an acute event when prognosis is unclear. Thus, solutions are limited, fraught with emotion, and made with limited evidence regarding the most appropriate goals of care. This comprehensive presentation will discuss the impact of illness and deconditioning on swallowing, review evidence-based interventions, and provide a clear framework to guide the practitioner, team, and family with decision-making that is appropriate and realistic but more importantly patient-focused. Information on how to communicate and document care plans and address challenging situations will be discussed. Case presentation will be an integral part of the presentation to illustrate these concepts.