Treatment of Swallowing for Head, Neck, and Oral Cancer (Rutherford - Live Interactive Webinar)

Course overview

Treatment for head, neck, and oral cancer (HNOC) can be daunting to even the most experienced speech-language pathologist. Intervention begins shortly after diagnosis and staging and continues throughout the course of medical treatment and beyond. Patients who eat and exercise fare better than those who do neither. These patients have a far better chance of returning to a normal diet and reducing dependence on a feeding tube (Hutcheson, 2013). Prophylactic exercises during treatment as well as counseling, diet modifications, and communication with oncology regarding changes in oral status, nutrition, and skin health are imperative for survivorship and quality of life measures (Van Den Steen, 2019). Reassessment and intervention after completion of medical management is fundamental to identifying the "new normal swallow" and to facilitate a return to a normalized diet. This course provides a general framework for development of an intervention plan that is based in evidence and experience.