Beyond The Bedside: Managing Dysphagia in the Community  

Workshop Overview 

Day 1 (Wednesday): Assessment 

1. The 8 Principles of Community-Based Dysphagia Care (15 mins)

2. Assessing Oral Health

- Review of the literature on available published tools

- Score & interpret oral health assessment results

3. The Cranial Nerve Examination

- Quick review of neuroanatomy

- The correlation between cranial nerve impairment and functional swallowing impairments

- Review research & limitations of the cranial nerve exam in dysphagia assessment

- Conduct a cranial nerve exam

4. Swallow trials with food & fluids

- How to modify your assessment according to your setting & client population

- How to standardise and improve the objectivity of your CSE

- Review the literature on signs & symptoms of dysphagia

- What the research says about trialling thickened fluids at the bedside

- Respiration & Swallowing (common respiratory disorders & introduction to auscultation)

- Cervical Auscultation: the research, the protocol and practical use

5. Establishing individualised risk profiles

- review the literature on common risks arising from dysphagia

- apply an evidence-based framework with real case studies

- assessing capacity in Eating & Drinking with Acknowledged Risk situations

Day 2 (Thursday): Documentation, Goals & Outcome Measures 

1. Clinical Documentation

- learn a new clinical documentation framework designed for community-based practice and apply this to a real case study with detailed assessment results

2. Instrumental Examination: VFSS & FEES

- referral reasons & contraindications

- critique commonly used VFSS tools

- understand what makes a strong VFSS report and what might be missing

3. Goal Setting

- design & conduct a dysphagia-focused semi-structured interview to elicit meaningful dysphagia goals

4. Outcome Measurement

- learn about dysphagia specific outcome measures and critique their benefits and drawbacks

- review published outcome measures for use in the community (brief - 15 mins)

- use and score select dysphagia patient reported outcome measures

5. Goal Setting & Outcome Measurement Case Study & Group Activity

Using the goals identified earlier, in groups you will shape this into a SMART goal and use this SMART goal to create goal attainment scaling levels to create an outcome measurement. You will receive feedback and practical support during this activity.

Day 3 (Friday): Management

1. Dysphagia Rehabilitation

- Review of research on dysphagia exercises, exercise physiologoy and principles of motor learning & neuroplasticity

- use real VFSS report results to develop a dysphagia rehabilitation program

2. Mealtime Management & Carer Training

- Understand what your mealtime management plan should include

- Review real mealtime management plans

- Learn strategies and approaches for training care staff and maximising buy-in

3. Oral Care Plans

- Review the research on oral care plans, bust some oral care myths & review real oral care templates

- Develop an evidence-based oral care plan based on real case studies

4. Texture Modification & Practical Strategies

- Review the evidence on texture modification

- Learn tips & tricks for food modification and understand how to minimise nutrient loss when modifying textures

- Hands on IDDSI testing with real food and fluids

Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Conduct and interpret a comprehensive Clinical Swallow Evaluation that reflects the individual's environment, cognition and support needs
2. Conduct oral health assessments using validated tools for geriatric and disability populations and apply findings to dysphagia management planning
3. Critically evaluate VFSS reports and apply instrumental findings to clinical decision making
4. Develop evidence-based dysphagia rehabilitation plans grounded in principles of motor learning and neuroplasticity
5. Save time and write high quality clinical documentation using a community-based documentation framework
6. Construct collaborative and measurable dysphagia goals, applying SMART goal criteria when appropriate
7. Select and apply dysphagia-specific outcome measures appropriate for community and chronic dysphagia populations with varying levels of cognition ability
8. Develop mealtime management plans and oral care plans informed by current evidence and learn how to maximise buy in from support staff in implementing these
9. Apply IDDSI framework testing to texture modification decision making in clinical practice and learn practical tips to support your clients to have a modified diet in the community

About the Presenter

Chantelle Hutchinson is a Speech Pathologist with over 15 years' experience working with adults with dysphagia across inpatient rehabilitation, outpatient clinics, and home-based practice. Her clinical focus is community-based dysphagia management, which is the setting this workshop is built around.

After years of searching for continuing education that reflected the realities of community practice, Chantelle identified a clear gap. Most dysphagia courses were designed with acute care in mind and mostly focussed on adults with acquired impairments. A lot of the content didn't translate,  particularly for adults with other impairments such as progressive conditions, dementia, and intellectual disability, where environment, cognition, and context are central to every clinical decision. So she built it a course herself.

Her first course, the Complete Clinical Swallow Evaluation Course, launched in mid-2025 and has since enrolled over 125 SLPs. Following demand for a live format that extended into management, Beyond the Bedside was created.

Chantelle is the founder of Dysphagia Bites, an evidence-informed education platform for SLPs, and host of the podcast Dysphagia Research Bites. She guest lectures at La Trobe University and has completed additional dysphagia training including the McNeill Dysphagia Therapy Program (MDTP certified), the Dysphagia Disorders Survey (DDS-DMSS certified), a 12-day intensive dysphagia course led by Prof Maggie-Lee Huckabee, and is currently completing MBSImP certification.