Search

Many people with intellectual disability live with swallowing, eating, and drinking difficulties (dysphagia). People living with both intellectual disability and dysphagia may require a range of supports in order to have the opportunity to participate in different eating and drinking environments of their choice. Understanding the nature of those supports is important to ensure that people with intellectual disability living with dysphagia can continue to create a good life for themselves at home and in their community. This study aimed to identify the nature of supports provided to people with intellectual disability and dysphagia when eating and drinking in different environments, as described in the published literature. A scoping review, underpinned by an a priori protocol, was conducted by a team of four reviewers. Four databases were searched. Sixteen papers were included for full‐text review. The review identified that studies most frequently reported support in the form of safety strategies to prevent the ill‐health consequences of dysphagia and training carers in those safety strategies by speech‐language pathologists. To a much lesser extent, studies identified the psychosocial needs of people with intellectual disability and dysphagia and how these were being considered in the design of training support. Overall, this review identified a significant need for future research into supports for eating outside the home and collaboration with people with intellectual disability and dysphagia about dysphagia training content which reflects the experience of living with dysphagia in social community environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few assessment tools objectively measure chewing skills in the paediatric population. There is a need for assessment tools that use consistent foods so comparisons can be made between typically developing children and children with paediatric feeding disorders, and to measure the efficacy of treatment. The Test of Masticating and Swallowing Solids for adults (TOMASS) and children (TOMASS-C) are assessments that use a cracker as a consistent measure to assess chewing skills. Normative data exist for children over 4 years, however, no data are available for younger children. This study investigated age and gender-related differences in mastication skills in typically developing children aged 2–3 years when eating a cracker. Thirty participants aged 2;0–3;10 were assessed using an adapted version of the TOMASS-C. Participants were required to eat a single Arnott's Salada cracker, and the number of bites, masticatory cycles, swallows, and duration of time to finish the cracker were measured. Two-year-old children used more masticatory cycles and took longer to finish the cracker than 3-year-old children. There were no significant effects of age on the number of swallows and number of bites, and no significant differences between boys and girls. This study provides preliminary normative data for chewing skills in children aged 2 and 3 years and confirms that the TOMASS-C is sensitive to developmental changes in mastication within this younger age range. These results expand our understanding of oral motor and chewing development in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eating and drinking outside the home is important for participation and social inclusion for people with intellectual disability and dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) but is likely to come with additional challenges. This qualitative research aimed to identify the challenges and strategies used by people with intellectual disability and dysphagia and their carers when eating outside the home. This study used a qualitative research design and reflexive researcher stance following an interpretive phenomenological methodology to understand the nature of the phenomenon "supporting people to eat and drink outside the home". Participants (n = 20) including those with intellectual disability and dysphagia (ages 20–30 years), their support staff and families were interviewed about eating and drinking outside the home. Semi-structured interviews were used. Interviews were analysed thematically. Three overarching themes were extracted using thematic analysis. These were being fully prepared; being a confident and respectful advocate; and being open to the varied responses of other people. The findings of this study suggest that there are unique challenges for people with intellectual disability and dysphagia and their carers when eating outside the home. There was a need to be practically, professionally, and personally prepared for eating outside the home. There is a need, therefore, to specifically address the challenges of eating outside the home and sharing the strategies used by others to overcome these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This is a scoping review of the methods used in published research to assess conversations and the interventions used to treat conversations between people with Parkinson's disease and their partners. Communication partners were defined as significant others or next-of-kin. The aims were to describe the assessment methods and interventions used, and to identify gaps in the literature. Method: Four online databases were used to identify peer reviewed journal articles in English, which assess and/or treat conversations in this population. The titles and abstracts of the obtained articles were screened and irrelevant articles were excluded. The full texts of the remaining articles were read to determine which studies met the inclusion/exclusion criteria of this review. The methods used, conversational aspects assessed, the treatments conducted and outcome measures used, and the speech and language domains targeted were charted in order to examine the extent of the evidence to inform future research directions. Result: Eight studies met inclusion criteria. "Conversation analysis" was the most widely used method to assess conversations. These studies assessed conversational aspects relating to the domains of pragmatics, fluency, prosody and semantics. They highlighted the role of communication partners to support conversational interactions by using repair strategies during a communication breakdown. Only one study treated conversations by implementing communication partner training. Conclusion: The findings of this review emphasise gaps in the literature. It highlights the need for future research implementing communication partner training. There is also a need to assess conversation skills of partners in order to determine which strategies would be most effective to support their interaction. It highlights the importance of incorporating a participation-based approach to assessment and intervention involving all communication partners. This may lead to enhanced support for people with Parkinson's disease and their families, thus improving their quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]