Using Spaced Retrieval With External Aids to Improve Use of Compensatory Strategies During Eating for Persons With Dementia.

Purpose: This study was designed to determine whether spaced retrieval (SR), when paired with an external memory aid, is an effective technique to teach persons with dementia to use compensatory swallowing strategies. A secondary purpose was to learn whether speech-language pathologists naive to the study aims would judge posttraining sessions as improved, or safer, in comparison to baseline sessions, thereby validating the changes in behavior due to SR training to use external aids during meals.

Method: A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effects of teaching compensatory swallowing behaviors (i.