Dysphagia Identification and Assessment in Adults in Primary Care Settings-A Canadian Study of Dietitians.

Dysphagia affects up to 35% of older adults living in the community and is considered a significant risk factor for malnutrition and aspiration. Early intervention is important, yet dietitian referrals for dysphagia management in primary care are disproportionately low considering the prevalence of dysphagia and its risk factors. As little is known about dietitian's current dysphagia identification and assessment practices in Canada, an online survey was developed.

Dietetic Staffing and Workforce Capacity Planning in Primary Health Care.

The addition of Registered Dietitians (RD) to primary health care (PHC) teams has been shown to be effective in improving health and economic outcomes with reported savings of $5 to $99 New Zealand dollars for every $1 spent on nutrition interventions. Despite proven benefits, very few Canadians have access to dietitians in PHC. This paper summarizes the literature on dietetic staffing ratios in PHC in Canada and other countries with similar PHC systems.