Swallowing Awareness Day is a time to raise awareness of how speech and language therapists (SLTs) help people living with eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.

Eating, drinking and swallowing is an essential part of most people’s day and is often taken for granted, but for some people it is not that easy. Eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties, also known as dysphagia, can occur at any stage of life, can affect a person’s quality of life, lead to other health complications and even have life-threatening consequences.

Speech and language therapists play a vital role in identifying and managing eating, drinking and swallowing.

As dysphagia often happens at the same time as other health conditions, it is difficult to be certain of the prevalence rate. However, research has found the following rates of prevalence and incidence of dysphagia is:

• between 50-75% of nursing home residents
• between 50-60% of head and neck cancer survivors
• between 40-78% of stroke survivors – of those with initial dysphagia following stroke, 76% will remain with a moderate to severe dysphagia and 15% with profound dysphagia
• 48% of patients undergoing cervical discectomy and fusion
• 33% of the people with multiple sclerosis
• 27% of those with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• 10% of acutely hospitalised older people
• 5% of adults with a learning disability, 5% of community-based individuals with learning disabilities and 36% of hospital-based individuals.

At CHFT, our Speech and language therapists support infants, children and adults who have dysphagia, to eat, drink and swallow safely.

They:

• Play a key role in the diagnosis of dysphagia
• Help people regain their swallowing through exercises, techniques and positioning
• Promote patient safety through modifying the texture of food and fluids, reducing the risk of malnutrition, dehydration and choking
• Promote quality of life, taking into account an individual’s and their families’ preferences and beliefs, and helping them adjust to living with swallowing difficulties
• Work with other healthcare staff, particularly dietitians, to optimise nutrition and hydration
• Educate and train others in identifying, assessing and managing dysphagia, including families and the wider health and care workforce.

Want to know more?

NHS England Dysphagia guide

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists – adult dysphagia factsheet

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists – paediatric dysphagia factsheet

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists – head and neck cancer dysphagia factsheet