Welcome to the Optimizing Swallowing and Eating for the Elderly (O-SEE) Lab
Our work focuses on better understanding swallowing in context among healthy older adults and across various clinical populations. Swallowing impairments (dysphagia) result in profound biopsychosocial disability, impacting both the individual and their loved ones. Thus, the shared mealtime provides a particularly potent opportunity to address the intricate relationships between social interaction and health-relevant symptoms and outcomes. By framing swallowing within the broader contexts of eating/mealtime and socialization processes, we aim to develop more holistic, ecologically valid approaches to managing swallowing- and eating-related impairments that can improve life expectancy and quality of life for individuals and their families.
The O-SEE Lab is located at the University of Oregon and is directed by Samantha Shune, PhD, Associate Professor of Communication Disorders and Sciences.