The average Australian swallows 500 to 700 times a day, three times an hour during sleep, once per minute while awake and more during meals.
It is estimated about one million Australians deal with dysphagia – the medical term used for swallowing difficulties with foods or liquids – while others may not swallow at all.
For speech pathologists across Australia, Swallowing Awareness Day on March 16 allows them to create more awareness and to connect people with speech pathologists and professionals.
Soaring Health speech pathologist and team manager for speech pathology Olga Birchall, said dysphagia was commonly a ‘silent condition’ affecting people of any age – from birth and across the lifespan, with many people suffering alone.
“It can be quite a debilitating condition that can significantly impair quality of life and can compromise people’s health and development in children,” she said.
“More than half of people who have had a stroke will experience swallowing difficulties.
“[People] knowing about dysphagia can help in preventing unnecessary, avoidable hospital admissions, avoidable medical complications, so we can help people to thrive with good nutrition, good hydration and make the most of their functional capacity.”
Mrs Birchall, who recently completed her PhD in dysphagia studies, said speech pathologists were in the position to help people through tests, offering compensatory strategies, and exercises to improve function and quality of life.
“Our role is more expansive because we learn about the brain … and we learn about the muscles and nerves that are responsible for communication, we use the same muscles for talking as we do for swallowing,” she said.
“We conduct assessments, and we assess the muscles and nerves that control swallowing, we assess oral hygiene, which is the health of the mouth and then we try different foods and drinks to see which consistencies works best for the person.
“There might be behavioural strategies, we can teach them special swallow techniques like holding your breath as you swallow or putting your chin down on your chest or turning your head to a particular side.”
Besides managing the physical aspects, Mrs Birchall said her role required helping the social impacts of dysphagia.
“Eating and drinking are cultural [and] and social activities, we catch up with our friends, young people will catch up with their friends for dinner, and it’s something that usually is seamlessly done,” she said.
“To have difficulties with swallowing can be visible sometimes, and people do shy away from social situations if they feel embarrassed, some people end up withdrawing from society.
Under the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, dysphagia was identified as one of the leading preventable causes of death of people in aged care homes and younger children who are with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, NDIS.
Mrs Birchall said dysphagia care needed to be prioritised higher and funded by the Federal Government to help people have greater access to speech pathology swallowing assessments.
For more information, visit soaringhealth.com.au.