NDD+Continued++How+to+decide+on+optimal+diet+for+the+patient?

While it is important that the SLT has a working knowledge of the textures and different food types within each texture in the NDD, the NDD alone will not guide the clinician in tems of choosing an appropriate diet for the patient. The SLT must decide this by using information from the clinical and instrumental assessment and their own clinical judgement. The "Task Force" behind the NDD found that when looking for a fairly systematic way to begin choosing an appropriate diet for a patient with dysphagia ,A 'severity rating scale' helped them when prescribing dieta for patients with swaloowing difficulties,(American Dietetic Association,2002).The Task force decided that a rating scale called the "Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale " ,(O'Neill, K.H., Purdy,M., Falk J., & Gallo,L.,1999) appeared to have the best correlation to the solid food texture levels of the NDD, and could best help the clinician decide what which National Dysphagia Diet is appropriate for this patient,( American Dietetic Association, 2002). Of course in saying that a systematic rating scale might help in planing a diet, it is defiitely not intended to mean that this process is easy or automatic.Planning a diet for a patient wth dysphagia is a multifactorial process that includes among other things, co-operation with other members of the MDT , the patients preferences and rights, their cognitive status and their ability to incorporate compesatory maneuvers.



The Dysphagia outcome and Severity Scale