Holly Durham

My name is Holly and I’m a speech and language therapist mainly working with adults who have dysphagia. 

The term dysphagia means difficulties swallowing and can occur for many reasons. 

I predominantly assess people who are having swallowing difficulties due to progressive neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, Motor Neurone disease and Multiple Sclerosis, as well as individuals who have swallowing difficulties following stroke or due to dementia. 

As a speech and language therapist, one of my main goals is to make it easier for a person with dysphagia to swallow and to reduce the risk of aspiration.  The term aspiration is used when food or drink goes down the wrong way and heads towards the lungs.  This can be extremely serious and cause chest infections and pneumonia. 

To make it easier for a person with dysphagia to swallow, we often recommend fluid and diet modifications or advise strategies to help when eating and drinking.  For example, thicker fluids may be recommended, as drinks that are thicker are sometimes easier to control and can mean that the swallow is more coordinated.  We may advise food to be softer or mashed so that it is easier to chew. 

Sometimes people choose to continue eating and drinking normally despite having swallowing difficulties and I often carry out capacity assessments to help in decision making around eating and drinking. 

Risk-feeding is a term used when we know someone has an unsafe swallow but it is felt to be in their best interest for them to continue to eat and drink orally. 

Speech therapists may advise on safest recommendations for risk-feeding or strategies to facilitate safer eating and drinking.

Eating and drinking is fundamental to a person’s quality of life and when the ability to swallow is affected it can have a profound impact to that person and their family.  Major celebrations are marked with food and drink such as Christmas and birthdays and if a person is unable to participate in eating and drinking due to coughing and choking it can cause social isolation and embarrassment. 

One of the things I love the most about my job is working with individuals to help them understand why they have a swallowing difficulty, and to make a positive impact on their quality of life by providing strategies to make it easier for them to swallow.