Optimizing Swallowing & Eating for the Elderly
Individuals with dysphagia, particularly in the presence of dementia, are at high risk for decreased nutrition and hydration. Unfortunately, current treatment options are not without limitations and often ignore the crucial social aspects of mealtimes. The aim of this exploratory, proof-of-concept study was to examine whether the social phenomenon of nonconscious behavioral mimicry can increase drinking behaviors in healthy older adults.
Link to full article can be found: here
An obesity preventive intervention program for preschool families, Healthy Balance, was tested in 2 sequential pilot trials. The first pilot tested the original and translated group intervention in a heterogeneous population (65 families), and the second tested the feasibility of a culturally adapted version for Latinx immigrant families (27 families). No significant study 1 intervention effects were found. However, in study 2, there were significant improvements in parent body mass index, neck circumference, and blood pressure. These studies suggest that targeting family system change and tailoring the intervention for Latinx immigrant populations is feasible and has the potential to improve obesity-related biomarkers.
Link to full article found: here
A big congratulations to Cameron Davis who successfully defended their honors thesis this morning! Cameron’s work explored the impact of post-stroke dysphagia on survivors and spousal caregivers, with a particularly emphasis on the importance of perceptual congruence.
Bravo on a job well done!
Dr. Shune and Bedoor Nagshandi had the honor of being invited to speak at the first Swallowing Symposium at Princess Nourah University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition to their presentations, they had the opportunity to network with researchers, clinicians, and faculty across the region. And of course, they had time to get in a little sightseeing and explore all of the food while ringing in the New Year!
We look forward to continuing to work with Princess Nourah to develop more cross-cultural research, training, and educational opportunities.
What a busy fall for the O-SEE Lab! We started at the Oregon Speech-Language and Hearing Association Annual Conference in October, where a number of O-SEE lab members (Dr. Shune, Bedoor Nagshabandi), alumni (Rachael Iverson), and collaborators (Dr. Reva Barewal) presented together. We then quickly turned our attention to November’s ASHA Convention. Dr. Shune, Bedoor, and Tess Munboon, along with collaborators Dr. Barewal and Dr. Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald, joined the approximately other 15,000 convention attendees this year!
We were excited to share all of our new work related to caregiver burden, transitional-state snacks, and dysphagia compliance/adherence with everyone.
The O-SEE Lab stayed busy this summer, presenting at conferences near and far!
Dr. Shune had the opportunity to present with Couples and Family Therapy collaborator Dr. Deanna Linville at the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy Conference in Austin, TX. Doc student Ting-fen Lin was able to travel to Japan to present at the Japanese Society of Dysphagia Rehabilitation’s annual conference. Undergrad honors student Cameron Davis and Dr. Shune presented at the Oregon Stroke Network conference.
We really enjoyed being able to present our work to highly varied audience and are looking forward to all of our fall conferences!
The term may be wrapping up, but the O-SEE lab is staying busy presenting their work. What better time to educate individuals from outside of our field than during Better Speech and Hearing Month?
Congratulations to senior Bri Southworth on a great poster presentation at this year’s Undergraduate Research Symposium!
And thank you Dr. Shune for discussing dysphagia and its impact on caregivers at the American Geriatrics Society conference.
Dr. Shune and curent PhD student Ting-fen Lin represented the lab at this year’s Dysphagia Research Society Annual Meeting in San Diego. We received wonderful feedback on our two presentations:
Oral presentation: Shune, S. & Namasivayam-MacDonald, A. Dysphagia as an independent risk factor for burden among caregivers of aging parents.
Poster presentation: Lin, T. & Shune, S. Mealtime mind-body-breath interplay in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
A HUGE congratulations to Ting-fen on winning an award for third place poster presentation! Such an exciting accomplishment.
Congratulations to Dr. Shune and her collaborator Dr. Deanna Linville (Couples and Family Therapy, University of Oregon) on their new publication exploring the meaning of successful dining for individuals with dysphagia in the nursing home setting in the International Journal of Nursing Studies. Check our our publications list for more information!
Be sure to check out the newest caregiver burden article by Dr. Shune and her collaborator Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald (Adelphi University) that has just been accepted for publication in the Journal of Applied Gerontology. This new study supports the widespread consequences of dysphagia on the family system as spousal caregivers of older adults with dysphagia were found to have increased emotional burden as compared to spousal caregivers of older adults without dysphagia. Check out our publications page for more information!
Congrats Drs. Shune and Namasivayam-MacDonald on continuing to expand the boundaries of dysphagia research!
