Ward environment
In the hospital studied, ‘ward nutrition assistants’ who are trained to
support patients at mealtimes, are available on stroke and care of the
elderly wards. Results suggest that the presence of a ward nutrition
assistant was not a significant factor for allocation of treatment
group. However, presence of specialist support staff may contribute to
frequency of dysphagia therapy offered – an outcome not measured in
this study. The National Clinical Guidelines for Stroke23 highlight that patients should receive a minimum of
45 minutes of each therapy required at least five days a week.
Availability of specialist staff to assist SLTs can support management
of dysphagia in the acute hospital setting 24 and when
direct SLT input is limited, oral trials may provide an opportunity for
dysphagia therapy to be delivered by a range of staff within the
multi-disciplinary team and across the 24-hour picture of a patient’s
care.