Dysphagia Rehabilitation by the Nutritional Support Team (NST)

ABSTRACT

With the advent of an aging society, the number of patients with dysphagia due to diseases such as eating disorders, dementia, and cerebrovascular disorders is increasing. To help such patients safely take oral drugs, pharmacists in nutrition support teams (NST) must have a good knowledge of swallowing. A survey of swallowing conducted by a medical team of our hospital has rerealed causes of choking, nutritional status, intraoral conditions, etc in patients with difficulties in swallowing. Based on the survey findings, the team has come up with pamphlets on training in how to swallow easily and started to implement the training program. When pharmacists are involved in the swallowing training, they need to recognize the problems associated with dysphagia in patients, and provide swallowing training according to the situation so that patients can take drugs orally. In addition, selection of oral drugs that can be taken easily, selection of drugs, such as adhesive skin patches and inhalants are important. It is also necessary to exrcise ingenuity in administring safe drugs oraly using thickening agents. It is considered that maintenance of a good swallowing function in elderly persons is related to an improvement in their quality of life (QOL). To contribute to QOL improvement in patients and their families, knowledge and skills for solving swallowing problems are necessary for pharmacists.