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Eating, drinking, and swallowing are individual actions that are central to identity and cultural participation. For many individuals, spirituality or religious preferences are important aspects of what gives their life meaning. As SLPs support patients and families with eating, drinking, and swallowing disorders, we may focus strictly on the physical and lose sight of other significant perspectives. The telos (purpose) of eating and feeding is much more than the techne (doing) of medically framed nutrition. This webinar steps back from swallowing physiology to explore the interplay of eating, drinking, swallowing, and religious beliefs and practices.

Learning Outcomes
You will be able to:

• Identify a broad range of factors that patients and families may find important when faced with eating, drinking, and swallowing issues that impact religious experiences
• Identify resources that support the SLP when addressing eating, drinking, and swallowing issues that impact religious experiences 
• Discuss at least one example of the interplay among eating, drinking, and swallowing issues for individuals with religious beliefs that may have been previously unfamiliar to you

DEI Professional Development Requirement

This course counts toward the ASHA certification maintenance professional development requirement for DEI (which encompasses cultural competency; cultural humility; culturally responsive practice; and diversity, equity, and inclusion). See more courses that count toward this requirement or read more about professional development requirements for certification maintenance.

Presenter Information

Paula Leslie, PhD, MA Bioethics, FRCSLT, CCC-SLP, support clinicians and researchers from the local to international level with complex decision-making, ethics, end-of-life and vulnerable populations. She is interested in nontraditional routes to advanced clinical training and has designed and directed post-qualification programs in the UK and U.S. She is a member of the British SIG in Palliative and Supportive Care, the American Society for Bioethics & Humanities, the Dysphagia Research Society (USA), and ASHA SIG 13 (Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders). She serves on the ASHA Special Interest Group 15 (Gerontology) Professional Development Committee and is a founding member and past scientific chairperson of the UK Swallow Research Group. She’s proud to be a Fellow of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and to have received the SWPSHA Honors of the Association and the ASHFoundation Louis M. DiCarlo Award for contributions to palliative care and SLP work. She has spent the last 2 years working in the UK national COVID-19 mass vaccination program and has just joined the Northern Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering Department, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Trust, UK.

Financial Disclosures:

• Financial compensation from ASHA for this presentation

Nonfinancial Disclosures:

• None

Assessment Type

Self-assessment—Think about what you learned and report on the Completion Form how you will use your new knowledge.

To earn continuing education credit, you must complete and submit the learning assessment by March 31, 2028.

Program History and CE Information

Content origination date: March 29, 2023
End date: March 31, 2028

This course is offered for 0.2 ASHA CEUs (Intermediate level, Related area).