Beyond The Bedside: Managing Dysphagia in the Community
3-Day Intensive Workshop
Dysphagia looks different when home is the clinical setting. The goals, the environment, and the risk profile of each client is unique and individual, so the approach to dysphagia should be too.
If you're a speech pathologist and have been waiting for quality dysphagia education that doesn't put you to sleep, this is for you. It's not going to be your typical professional development event. It's 3 full days of dysphagia assessment, treatment, goal setting and outcome measurement, but delivered in a way that will be engaging, practical, and yes FUN!
It will take place at an environmental education centre and urban farm in Melbourne. Think cafe on site, community gardens, and a vibe that is definitely not screaming “conference room in the basement with a 2009 inspired slide deck.”
You'll leave with more clinical knowledge and confidence than you arrived with, new SLP connections, and a renewed energy for the work you do.
I'm planning for the perfect workshop experience that will blend a deep dive into literature, practical hands on training, tools & strategies you can use the very next day... topped with great food, great company, and great prizes up for grabs.
Date: 4–6 November 2026
Location: Brunswick East, Melbourne, Victoria
Hours: 9:00am – 5:00pm daily
Price: $1,299 AUD (early bird, available until 31 August) | $1,499 AUD (full price) - NB: Klarna & Afterpay are available
Catering: Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea included daily, with tea and coffee available throughout
Registration closes: 21 October 2026
Professional development hours: 20
Who this course is for:
- early career clinicians
- any clinician with reduced confidence or limited experience working with dysphagia, especially in a community setting
- therapists transitioning from hospital into community-based practice
- anyone who would like a refresh in dysphagia best practice
Learning Objectives
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Conduct and interpret a comprehensive Clinical Swallow Evaluation that reflects the individual's environment, cognition and support needs
- Conduct an oral health assessments using validated tools for geriatric and disability populations and apply findings to dysphagia management planning
- Critically evaluate VFSS reports and apply instrumental findings to clinical decision making
- Develop evidence-based dysphagia rehabilitation plans grounded in principles of motor learning and neuroplasticity
- Write high quality clinical documentation using a community-based documentation framework
- Construct collaborative and measurable dysphagia goals, applying SMART goal criteria when appropriate
- Select and apply dysphagia-specific outcome measures appropriate for community and chronic dysphagia populations with varying levels of cognition ability
- 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
- 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
Beyond the Bedside: Managing Dysphagia in the Community
LIVE 3-Day Intensive Workshop
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Workshop Overview
Day 1: Assessment
Day 1 establishes the clinical foundations of the bedside swallowing assessment. The day opens with discussing principles of community based care and how this differs from the hospital setting.
It will then move onto oral care assessment which involves a review of published assessment tools and hands-on practice with oral health assessment and oral cavity examination. From there, participants work through cranial nerve examinations, covering relevant neuroanatomy, linking specific deficits to functional swallowing impairment, and discussing the practical application of a validated tool.
The afternoon moves into the research on swallow trials. This includes a review of the literature on mastication, palpation, and signs of dysphagia, the clinical conundrum of trialling thickened fluids at the bedside, and an introduction to cervical auscultation. A guest presentation from a GP will introduce auscultation as an assessment method and cover common respiratory disorders.
The day closes with establishing risk profiles, using a clinical framework to determine risk levels through case study work, with a guest presentation from a neuropsychologist on mental capacity assessments in the context of Eating & Drinking with Acknowledged Risk.
Day 2: Documentation, Goals & Outcome Measures
Day 2 moves from assessment into the clinical reasoning and documentation that follows it. The day opens with clinical documentation, where participants work through a structured framework and apply it directly to real dysphagia assessment results, writing impressions and recommendations from a real case study.
From there, the focus shifts to instrumental examination, covering referral criteria and contraindications for VFSS and FEES, a critical review of published VFSS tools, and a practical session on what constitutes a strong VFSS report.
The second half of the day is dedicated to goal setting and outcome measurement, two areas that are often underdeveloped in dysphagia practice but are central to demonstrating clinical impact. Participants complete a semi-structured interview in a practical setting and use the responses to collaboratively develop dysphagia goals.
The outcome measurement session reviews dysphagia-specific measures with a particular focus on tools validated for community and chronic dysphagia populations, including hands-on use and scoring of patient-reported outcome measures. The day closes with a group case study activity bringing goal setting and outcome measurement together, creating SMART goals, developing goal attainment scaling levels, and receiving structured feedback throughout
Day 3: Management
Day 3 is dedicated to management, bringing together the assessment and clinical reasoning from the previous two days into practical, real-world application.
The morning session covers dysphagia rehabilitation in depth, from an introduction to the evidence base through to specific exercises, principles of motor learning, and neuroplasticity. Participants then apply this directly by developing a rehabilitation plan from a real VFSS report.
After lunch, the focus shifts to mealtime management plans, what should be included, how it should be documented, and how to meaningfully engage carers in implementing the plan, with real examples reviewed and critiqued.
The afternoon continues with oral care plans, including a review of the current evidence and hands-on development of a real oral care plan from a case study. The day closes with texture modification, a review of the evidence base followed by practical IDDSI testing with real food and fluids.
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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.
If you require a course description to submit to your employer, you can download this below.
Course Outline (pdf)Cancellation Policy
Cancellations made more than 8 weeks prior to the event date are eligible for a full refund. Cancellations made between 4–8 weeks prior will receive a 50% refund. No refund is available within 4 weeks of the event.
Transfers to a colleague or a future event date may be requested at any time and will be considered on a case by case basis. Payment plan arrangements do not alter these cancellation terms — the full registration fee remains payable in accordance with this policy.
Please note: due to the interactive nature of this workshop, it is not available in online format. If you are after a comprehensive online course you can find The Complete Clinical Swallow Evaluation Course here.
Hope to See You There!
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