Teleswallowing: managing dysphagia
About
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Swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) may precipitate aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, poor rehabilitation, hospital admittance, increased hospital stay and reduced quality of life.
Dysphagia, prevalent among the elderly, particularly following a stroke and in end stage dementia, is common among care home residents.
Teleswallowing is an innovative use of telemedicine. Speech and Language Therapists can rapidly and accurately assess a care home resident’s ability to swallow remotely, via video, and has proved a highly efficient clinical tool in Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS FT. Benefits include:
- 100% diagnostic accuracy for diet and fluid modification compared to bedside assessment
- Annual cost efficiency
- 79.5% reduction in cost per patient compared to home visits
- 66% reduction in time taken assessing each patient compared to home visits
- 50% reduction in time taken assessing each patient compared to hospital bedside assessment
- Improved response time to referrals
- Quality service for patients and care homes
Teleswallowing benefits all stakeholders:
- Patients - faster assessment in the comfort of their residential surroundings
- Care homes - providing state-of-the-art technology for residents
- SLT departments - long term time savings
- CCGs - long term cost savings
Full pilot details and extension project: http://teleswallowing.com/