Dementia and Dysphagia: Eating Safely at Home

Patients with dementia develop dysphagia ( swallowing problems) sometime  during the clinical course of their disease, and  it is estimated that 45% of institutionalized patients with dementia have dysphagia. Complications from swallowing problems resulting from neurological diseases and dementia can include: dehydration, malnutrition, and aspiration pneumonia, often resulting in repeat hospitalizations, and sometimes resulting in death.

Join me and guests:  Roya Sayadi, PhD ,CCC-SLP, and Joel Herskowitz, M.D.,authors: Swallow Safety: How Swallowing Problems Threaten the Elderly and Others: A Caregivers Guide to Recognition, Prevention, and Treatment. Their book was written in an attempt to provide people with a basic understanding of swallowing and practical suggestions that might “prevent problems and promote greater safety.  

Laura Michael, is a nutritional consultant and owner, Dysphagia Supplies Direct. When Laura’s own father was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia she committed to help her mother keep her father living well at home, and continues that work with others.

Learn more: www.dysphagiasupplies.com

 http://www.swallowsafely.com/about/