Swallowing Awareness Day - 16th March

What’s this thing called dysphagia?

Dysphagia (dis-fay-juh) means difficulty swallowing. Swallowing is essential for life – ensuring we maintain adequate hydration and nutrition. On average, people swallow 700 times a day.

People with dysphagia can be at risk of weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, choking and/or developing aspiration pneumonia from food/fluid/saliva entering into the lungs.

Speech Pathologists can assist with managing dysphagia. A Speech Pathologist will conduct an assessment of swallow function and provide advice for managing any difficulties. You can see some of these strategies in this handy infographic (PDF).

Swallowing awareness day is on Wednesday 16th March 2022 and aims to bring attention to swallowing disorders and the people who live with dysphagia every day. In Australia, 15-30% of people over 65 years have some form of swallowing difficulty.

Doug Forster, a patient of the SCGOPHCG Speech Pathology Department, wanted to share his experience of living with progressive dysphagia due to Parkinson’s disease, and the journey that led to him getting a PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) feeding tube inserted.

Doug found his health care professionals very knowledgeable and informative about the surgical insertion process and general functioning of his PEG. However, he and his family had to learn for themselves when it came to the day-to-day logistical and practical implications of his new ‘PEGgie’ tube, as he calls it. Doug wanted to share his lived experience with others who may be embarking on such a journey, in the hope that it may provide some practical tips and tricks he learnt along the way.

Doug has given his permission for his story to be shared with health professionals and patients alike, to build awareness of dysphagia and his experience of life with a PEG tube. We hope you enjoy his mini-publication and light-hearted look at “Living with PEGgie” (PDF).