Caring for Aging Adults with Dysphagia
Why Dysphagia Is Dangerous
What to Watch for
- Frequently feel pain or discomfort whenever they swallow, or a recurring sensation that something is stuck in their throat.
- Struggle to chew or move food around within their mouth.
- Eat unusually slowly and require extra time to chew a single mouthful of food.
- Need to swallow multiple times or sip liquids to help clear their mouth of food.
- Prematurely spill food from their mouth or into the back of their throat before they intend to swallow.
- Become tired before they can finish a meal.
- Feel more congested or short of breath during and after mealtimes.
- Frequently cough or try to clear their throat, talk with a voice that sounds “wet” after eating or drinking, or drool.
- Frequently choke on food, drinks, saliva, or medications.
- Experience mysterious weight loss, dehydration, or recurrent pneumonia.
Who Can Help
What Treatments Can Do
Which Foods to Avoid
How to Preserve Quality of Life
- Dysphagia page from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
- National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders
- Patient Handouts on Dysphagia from SwallowStudy.com
- Dysphagia in the Elderly — Management and Nutritional Considerations [PDF]
- “Essential Purée,” a dysphagia diet cookbook
- Dysphagia Research Society