Access Community Therapists Presents

Eating, Drinking and Swallowing Disorders: Assessment and Management, a Clinical Approach

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A woman helps a man in a wheelchair drink from a mug outdoors in a park. The man looks at her whilst she holds the mug to his mouth. They both appear calm and engaged with each other.

About the Workshop

  • Dates TBD

Virtual

This four-session virtual workshop explores the clinical assessment and management of eating, drinking, and swallowing disorders across the lifespan. Swallowing anatomy and physiology, oral motor assessment, dysphagia management strategies, adaptive equipment, and ethical considerations are examined through focused presentations, video examples, and interactive case studies.

Presented By:

Janice Duivestein, OT/PT

Jen Sawrenko, OT

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Workshop Agenda

  • Setting the stage – the ICF in relation to eating, drinking and swallowing.
  • Team Roles and establishing and maintaining competencies in dysphagia practice.
  • Review of anatomy and physiology of normal swallowing (pre-reading will be emailed out prior to course)
  • Assessment; Relevant history, Oral motor evaluation ( including practical work with partners), Mealtime observation – Case scenarios, video clips, worksheets provided to practice observation skills on a variety of clients; Introduction to using the modified barium swallow study as an assessment tool
  • Management; Common management strategies, video clips and case scenarios will be utilized; adapted equipment and resource books will be available
  • Ethical Considerations in Dysphagia Practice

Learning Objectives

At the completion of the workshop, participants will:

  • Consider eating, drinking, and swallowing in relation to the individual’s priorities and goals.
  • Be able to identify and describe the relevant swallowing structures and their functions.
  • Recognize and describe some of the unique differences and issues related to dysphagia in specific population/diagnostic groups.
  • Be able to carry out a clinical assessment, including interpretation of relevant history, oral motor examination and mealtime observation.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the various tests relevant to dysphagia and describe when these might be indicated.
  • Be able to formulate and implement management plans to address identified eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties.
  • Understand and articulate the importance of inter-professional practice in dysphagia management.
  • Be able to locate pertinent resources.

What's Included?

  • A comprehensive handout
  • Anatomy and physiology pre-reading

Meet Your Presenters

  • Janice Duivestein is an older woman with long grey hair and blue glasses. She is wearing a lavender sweater and a white scarf with a blue floral pattern.

    Janice Duivestein, OT/PT

  • Jennifer Sawrenko is a woman with long black hair and a warm smile. She is wearing a grey and textured turtleneck sweater.

    Jen Sawrenko, OT

What People Are Saying About the Workshop

Thank you both again so much for sharing your knowledge + experiences as clinicians, we are so lucky to have this course and its content in our back pockets as we continue our learning journeys. Immensely grateful for this opportunity!

Watching meal time observations of clients, VFSS videos, IDDSI review and completing case studies as an interdisciplinary team were all extremely helpful!

Thank you so much for your expertise and interactive virtual sessions! It was timely course for me at this time as I do more swallowing assessments in LTC.

Great course! Appreciate you both – your knowledge and expertise is so great!

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