What is dysphagia?
The NHS website describes dysphagia as ‘…where you have problems swallowing, usually caused by certain medicines or another condition, such as acid reflux or a stroke‘. It can be from having some trouble swallowing food or fluids, to not being able to eat or drink at all.
Signs of dysphagia can include the following:-
- coughing or choking when eating or drinking
- bringing food back up, sometimes through the nose
- a feeling that food is stuck in your throat or chest
- a gurgly, wet-sounding voice when eating or drinking
Not being able to eat or drink could lead to other symptoms such as weight loss, dehydration and repeated chest infections, and so it is important people caring for loved ones who are experiencing these symptoms to gain further advice from their GP.
Our Dysphagia Champions
Our Dysphagia Champions are staff who have received additional training in the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) 2019 (see below) and who will use this to drive improvement of the management of dysphagia in our long-term conditions service. These champions will review the content of our care plans and carry out observational visits to support our team of staff in the community to deliver safe care, support nutrition, and prevent/manage choking episodes.
At present, we have three senior people trained; the Deputy Manager, the Care Coordinator, and one of our Senior Healthcare Support Workers. By upskilling selected staff, we will also bolster our legal requirements in ‘Meeting nutritional/hydration needs’ under Regulation 14 of the Health & Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014.
Understanding The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) 2019
Our Dysphagia Champions have been trained to understand the IDDSI standards that the Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) will use during their assessment of the person’s swallowing. The diagram below illustrates how the IDDSI framework aims to simplify the language in describing the thickness of both food and drink by giving them a numerical code:-
.png.aspx)
Image Credit: IDDSI
Creative License: CreativeCommons Sharealike 4.0
Transferring learning into practice
Our Dysphagia Champions will ensure the SLT assessment is transferred to the care plan and risk assessment with clear details of any recommendations such as:-
- The type of thickener used
- How much to use
- When to use it
- With what foods/fluids to mix it with
- How to mix it correctly, gain the right consistency and avoid lumps
- Where to record its use
find out about more about some of the services Aster Care provide:
