Swallowing and Feeding Disorders Across the Lifespan

Issues with swallowing and feeding affect people of all ages and can have a significant impact on a person’s social, emotional and physical well-being. Speech-language pathologists — with their extensive knowledge of the anatomy involved in swallowing and speaking — are integral to supporting people with swallowing and feeding disorders.

Dysphagia (dis-fay-juh), the medical term for a swallowing disorder. Over half of residents in long-term care have dysphasia and between 3 and 10% of all children have feeding problems, which may or may not include dysphasia.

*New
SAC recently launched a new position paper on swallowing and feeding disorders across the lifespan to assist our speech-language pathology members in advocating to work to their full scope of practice. Read it here.

Other SAC Resources:

• Dysphagia Poster and Information Sheet
• SAC Position Statement: The Role of Speech-Language Pathologists in Dysphagia
• Communique Article: Dysphagia Assessment and Treatment During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned from the Transition to Telepractice

Recent SAC PD on Dysphagia:

• SAC Webcast: Managing Dysphagia in Patients with COVID-19 in Acute Care and Beyond: Facilitators and Barriers to Practice (2021)
• SAC Webcast: Dysphagia Interventions for People with Head and Neck Cancer (2020)
• SAC Webcast: Pediatric Dysphagia: Guiding Clinical Practice (2019)