Due to the sequelae of aging, oral cancer, systemic diseases such as stroke, dementia, Parkinson's disease, etc., those who have problems with mastication and swallowing are derived. Elderly people cough due to swallowing disorders, reduce food intake and drinking water, and then cause nutritional deficiencies and dehydration. Due to coughing problems, they may cause pain, psychological anxiety, and even social isolation, and dare not participate in social activities, resulting in feelings of loneliness and detachment. When a large number of bacteria in the mouth and throat are choked into the trachea and lungs with the occurrence of coughing, aspiration pneumonia is caused. Due to the serious problem of mastication and swallowing disorders, it is a life safety issue that needs to be concerned very seriously.
To overcome mastication and swallowing disorders and its derivative problems, it is necessary to cooperate with a transdisciplinary team (TDT), including the combination of neurology, geriatrics, otolaryngology, oral surgery, imaging medicine, otolaryngology and other specialties in clinical diagnosis. The core function of a TDT in dysphagia is to bring together a group of healthcare professionals from different fields including physicians, dentists, oral hygienists, nurses, speech therapists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, case managers, and even social workers, clinical psychologists and Chinese medicine practitioners. By full cooperation of the healthcare professionals, people with special care needs can be able to maintain good oral health, eat safely, enjoy delicious food and improve quality of life.
Kaohsiung Medical University (KMU) has founded a project entitle "Chewing and Swallowing Health Industry Talent Cultivation Base" by the Ministry of Education in which based on KMU, combined with many universities and vocational colleges, it is expected to cultivate a large number of health care workers related to chewing and swallowing health. KMU will hold Taiwan's first "Center for Industrial and Practical Learning on Oral Health Care, Ingestion and Dysphasia" launch ceremony on March 24, 2023, officially announcing the beginning of the cultivation of health care workers in the chewing and swallowing health industry.
In conjunction with the launching ceremony, the "International Symposium on Transdisciplinary Care for Dysphagia" will be held simultaneously in KMU on March 24 and 25, 2023. The symposium mainly focuses on "assessment and diagnosis". We invite more than 20 experts and scholars who are outstanding in mastication and swallowing disorders and related fields. Lecturers will conduct subjective and objective assessments of comprehensive and extensive oral function for evaluation and diagnosis, supplemented by X-ray or endoscopic examination, and even CT for precise diagnosis. In addition, the content of symposium also covered the three most important core elements in terms of nutritional supply, rehabilitation training and oral care, with the purpose of achieving the ultimate two goals of medical care for chewing and swallowing disorders: safe eating and increase in nasogastric tube removal rate.
The following wonderful contents can also be learned in this international symposium including adjustment of food textural properties for elderly patients, the oral hygiene care to stop oral health problem and reduce the amount of potentially harmful bacteria in the mouth, oral health management and oral functional rehabilitation such as dentures, palatal augmentation prosthesis (PAP) and palatal lift prosthesis (PLP), as well as the latest technology AR/VR in the field of oral care.
We sincerely invite you to join us in Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan on Mar 24 & 25, 2023 for our conference.
Chairman
