Eating and Drinking Support for Care Home Residents
In our team we have noticed that we receive referrals for residents in care homes who are experiencing eating and drinking difficulties rather than an oro-pharyngeal dysphagia. Some people are experiencing a mix of both. This may be related to behavioural issues secondary to cognitive impairment or issues with environmental factors that affect eating and drinking such as positioning.
The following training video talks will take you through a 10 point checklist that aligns with 10 key factors of good mealtime practice and the “Feeding Safely” routine as identified in the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapy, “Guidance on the Management of Dysphagia in Care Homes”.
Feeding Safely training for speech and swallow issues (youtube.com)
You can download the 10 point checklist and add it to a residents care plan as evidence that you have considered their issues with eating and drinking.
You can follow the decision management tree and may decide that a referral to another service is more appropriate.
It maybe that you are able to use this checklist to support residents in advance of our visit even if they have an oro-pharyngeal dysphagia and require specialist support.
We have some useful advice sheets on our website including a summary of the recent RCSLT position paper on the use of thickener, safe eating and drinking advice and support for people with their eating and drinking at the end of life.
We are also able to come and provide free face to face training with the above presentation. If you would like this for your home, please contact us by email medch.ccc-planned.nhd.net