(HS Mansolillo 020003 2020) Breathing, Digestion and Swallowing: Best Practices in Dysphagia Management

Course overview

What's the safest diet? Is he aspirating? Can she swallow these pills? He hates the pureed food - what else can we do? She's refusing the thick liquids! Is he going to get pneumonia? Does he need a feeding tube? These are issues that we face every day in our work with children and adults with dysphagia. How do we keep our clients safe, while making sure they're well hydrated and well nourished, and normalize eating as much as possible? Sometimes, it's about more than just swallowing. This course will examine the inter-relationships between respiration, gastrointestinal function, and swallowing to allow clinicians to better identify the underlying causes of their client's swallowing difficulties. We'll look at specific respiratory and GI diagnoses and their impact on what, when, how much, and how safely our clients eat. Using clinical case studies, we'll examine the evidence to provide you with the tools you need to perform a thorough assessment and implement a comprehensive treatment plan that takes into account all of the potential contributing factors.