[Dysphagia] food holding

[JHummelbrunner at lwdh.on.ca (Hummelbrunner, Jackie)]

Alerting activities such as smelling the foods and being helped to get the
spoon to his mouth so that there is some motor memory for what he is needing
to do.  I work closely with OT's to help the patient to do the most they can
even if max assistance is required.  This seems to make the process more
meaningful for someone in this condition.

Sensory stimulation has worked for some of my clients.  Alternating citrus
tastes with regular food, as well as alternating foods at different
temperatures.  Citrus Sorbet works well as it is both a sharp taste and a
different temperature.

Verbal and tactile cuing (stroking under the tongue).

Hope this helps,
Jackie Hummelbrunner


-----Original Message-----
From: dysphagia-bounces@b9.com [mailto:dysphagia-bounces@b9.com] On Behalf
Of hillivie423@adelphia.net
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2005 2:22 PM
To: Dysphagia list
Subject: [Dysphagia] food holding

Does anyone have any suggestions to support a 72 year old gentleman who has
profound mental retardation, eats a soft cooked, diced diet that is spoon
fed to him by a staff person.  He has recently shown some changes that might
suggest a dementia, such as taking a bite of food and then holding it in his
mouth for several seconds, apparently not knowing what to do with it.  He
also has had a couple of incidents of urinary incontinence, to which he did
not respond.  He had previously taken himself to the bathroom consistently.
He also has always walked independently, but is now unsteady in his gait.
I'm looking for any ideas that have worked for others, in how to cue him to
swallow.
Thank you.
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