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Innovations in Dysphagia Nutrition: Xanthan Gum for Quality of Life

Dinner out with friends was once a relaxing experience. Holiday meals meant enjoying familiar comfort foods of years past. A glass of wine was an evening treat.

For millions of people, the enjoyment of eating and drinking can change overnight.

This is the reality that those living with dysphagia face. Simple foods and beverages they once enjoyed have become risks for aspiration and hospitalization—and sometimes even death. Lost is the social aspect of the meal; lost are favorite foods and drinks; lost is the lunch “break”…as eating becomes a chore. continue reading →



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National Dysphagia Awareness Month Facts

June is National Dysphagia Awareness Month. Each day during the month of June, we will share a fact about dysphagia that is supported by research. We will include a citation for each fact if you are interested in learning more.

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Patient-Centered Approach to Determining the Plan of Care for Patients with Dysphagia (Part 1)

Byline: Melody Sheldon, M.A.,CCC-SLP owns and operates Southwest Rehabilitation, a private practice in Coos Bay, Oregon.  Since 1989, she has been providing services to acute care hospitals, extended care facilities, hospice, home health agencies, transitional homes, and to pediatric and adult patients in her clinic.  In an effort to provide continuity, Melody Sheldon developed the Dysphagia Complaint Scale, which she and her staff use with patients and their families to rate the severity level of the problem throughout an episode of care. continue reading →



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HPV: Changing the Face of Head & Neck Cancer

Written by Karen Sheffler, MS, CCC-SLP, BCS-S of www.SwallowStudy.com (revised April 25, 2017). Reposted on the NFOSD website with the author’s permission. See Karen’s Biography at the end of this article.

“How did I get tonsillar cancer? I don’t smoke or drink!”

Young people who do not smoke do NOT get cancer, right?

Wrong.

We need to have the talk — about sex and the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). continue reading →



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New Resource: Educational Dysphagia Video

[Editor’s Note: The NFOSD Team has reviewed the DVD described below. While the DVD content overlaps with the NFOSD oral exercise videos and the iSwalllow app, it does serve as an additional tool available in DVD format to help treat the population who suffer from dysphagia. The NFOSD has no financial interest, relationship with, or conflict of interest to disclose in the sale of this DVD.]

 

In 2015, KRSD Communication Tools published “Educational Video for Individuals with Dysphagia: Exercises and Maneuvers to Help with Swallowing Difficulties,” a home therapy program created by three speech-language pathologists (Dondorf, Fabus, and Gatzonis) for use by both clinicians and patients.

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