Dysphagia Care Plan, Education, and Best Practices for Your Staff, 2nd Edition - 10/6/2026

Course Overview 
Staff education on feeding, thickening liquids, strategies, and precautions is part of our job as speech pathologists or occupational therapists. If we don’t provide this information, the lack of staff education and knowledge may result in choking, aspiration events, or worse. Studies document staff education is often nonexistent or very general. This seminar will identify specific recommendations and rationale for their use. These strategies are critical for staff and families to follow during meals. If there’s a lack of understanding or follow-through, the patient can be at risk. The resource handout provides useful information to construct patient-specific care plans for use in your facility, outpatient, or home health settings to maintain adequate nutrition and hydration and improve patient safety with oral intake.

Learning Outcomes  
Upon the completion of this course, the learner should be able to:

• Discuss three factors that negatively impact a resident’s nutrition and hydration
• Describe the importance of adding an individualized mouthcare protocol to a resident’s care plan
• State the mealtime problems interfering with a resident’s oral intake
• Describe characteristics of a patient’s IDDSI diet level to prevent diet errors
• Explain the testing method to verify correct liquid consistency
• Explain the impact of foods used to administer crushed medications 
   

About the Author/Presenter  
Denise Doughtery taught at Wesley College and York College of Pennsylvania and worked in long-term care, skilled nursing facilities, clinics, hospitals, and home health. In her private practice, she works as a forensics speech pathology and provides home health services. She has written articles for ASHA; presented on private practice, end-of-life issues, and dysphagia around the United States; and coauthored Private Practice Essentials: A Practical Guide for Speech-Language Pathologists. She served on ASHA’s Health Care Economics Committee and Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Council. As a member of the American Academy of Private Practice in Speech Pathology and Audiology (AAPPSPA), she served as president and continuing education administrator.

Audience/Accreditations and Approvals  
Colibri Healthcare  
This course is designed for the following healthcare professions (select your profession for details):   
Occupational Therapy

If you require special accommodations, please contact Colibri Healthcare Support by clicking here: Contact Us