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Speech and Language Therapy

Dysphagia Recipe Hub

The Dysphagia Recipe Hub is an initiative started by speech and language therapists (SLT) at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The aim is to collate a variety of appetising and nutritional recipe ideas for clients with dysphagia that fit in with their advised eating and drinking recommendations.

Disclaimer

The Dysphagia Recipe Hub is a platform for ideas and meal inspiration. It should always be used in conjunction with the tailored speech and language therapy and dietetics advice.

We suggest all clients familiarise themselves with the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) regarding their prescribed IDDSI levels when trialling the recipes, due to the variation in grocery items bought and appliances used at home.

If there are concerns that the client is not managing the recipes and/or is losing weight, they should be in touch with their GP, managing speech and language therapist and/or dietitian.

What is Dysphagia

Dysphagia is the medical term for eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties. The clinical advice surrounding dysphagia management and its impact on oral intake includes referral to speech and language therapy and dietetics for specialist assessment.

A common intervention includes diet and/or fluid modification to reduce the impact of dysphagia and risk of aspiration (material entering the airway). Nutritional advice is often also provided in line with the proposed modifications.

The International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI)

Diet and fluid types are categorised into a variety of IDDSI ‘levels’ from 0-7 depending on the difficulty of consistency and texture. The speech and language therapist should provide specialist advice on the diet and fluid levels safe for the client, as well as safer eating and drinking strategies.

The problem

In some cases, dysphagia may be life-threatening, with complications including choking, pneumonia, chest infections, dehydration, malnutrition and weight loss. It is therefore important that clients feel well informed of their eating and drinking recommendations and are confident to choose suitable meals throughout the day.

Modified diets are known to have an impact on quality of life and can place a lot of pressure on the individual preparing meals. There are currently limited suitable recipes available to guide clients with dysphagia and their carers.

Dysphagia Recipe Hub

The Dysphagia Recipe Hub is a platform containing recipes collected from a variety of sources. An exciting hospital and community-wide competition was launched in 2022, which received recipe ideas from a variety of individuals and professionals. Other recipes have been adapted from pre-existing websites and cookbooks, with the original authors referenced.

Berkshire Healthcare dietitians who work in the Royal Berkshire Hospital have kindly reviewed the recipes, providing nutritional information and fortification tips.

We hope that you enjoy the hub and would love to hear your feedback on any of the recipes. Please contact: rbft.speechlanguage@nhs.net

Recipes

Recipes may overlap the IDDSI sections. For example, a level 4 recipe would be suitable for a level 5/6 diet unless instructed otherwise by a speech and language therapist.

Our aim is to continue adding recipe ideas to the hub.