Carefound Home Care has benefited from a great example of joint working with Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust through a specialist training session with the local Adult Speech and Language Therapy team.
The Adult Speech and Language Therapy team in the Harrogate and District area provide specialist assessment and management of patients who have speech, language, voice, communication and / or swallowing disorders, both in hospital and in the community. This may have resulted from varied health conditions such as stroke, Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone Disease or Dementia.
Carefound Home Care are increasingly working with local NHS teams to not only encourage joint working between the NHS and social care but also ensure that their professional carers receive expert input around how to support their elderly clients living with complex health conditions.
Joanna Cann, Speech and Language Therapist at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, and Andrea Dunn, Speech and Language Therapy Assistant, attended the Harrogate offices of Carefound Home Care this week to provide a training session about textured diets and the use of fluid thickeners. These methods of promoting safe nutrition and hydration can be vital when supporting clients who have difficulty swallowing or are at risk of choking.
The group also discussed potential complications of swallowing problems such as aspiration pneumonia which is a condition that occurs when food, liquids or saliva is breathed into the lungs and airway instead of being swallowed into the oesophagus and stomach. This can go on to cause infection, particularly among older or frail people.
The session was very informative and interactive, with everybody having the opportunity to not only make hot and cold drinks using fluid thickener but also taste them and understand their use from the perspective of a client.
Lorna Dawber, Home Care Manager at Carefound Home Care in Harrogate, said: “We are very grateful to Joanna and Andrea for taking the time to meet with our team and share their expertise in adult speech and language therapy. There is no better way to provide our carers with training in supporting clients with swallowing difficulties and how to prevent potential complications developing.”
“We place huge value on working more closely with local NHS teams to improve the outcomes of our elderly clients and this session with the Harrogate and District Adult Speech & Language Therapy Department is a fantastic example.”
Joanna Cann, Speech and Language Therapist at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Thank you for the team’s time this afternoon – we felt it was a really positive session and hope that everyone found it useful. Lovely to meet such an enthusiastic committed team.”
ENDS
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust
[email protected] or 01423 557470
Carefound Home Care
[email protected] or 01423 774070