When was your team last trained in dysphagia and IDDSI training?

In aged care and disability settings, dysphagia and IDDSI training is often reviewed after something has already gone wrong: a choking incident, a mealtime concern, a complaint, an audit finding or a change in a person’s swallowing status. But mealtime safety should not depend on waiting for a near miss.

When staff support people with swallowing difficulties they need to understand more than just “what diet is written down”. They need to know why recommendations matter, what IDDSI food and drink levels mean, how to support safer mealtimes and when to escalate concerns.

This is especially important when teams are working across different shifts, with new staff, casual staff, agency staff, catering teams, care workers, support workers and nurses all involved in the same mealtime system. If only one or two people understand dysphagia and IDDSI, knowledge gaps can quickly appear. Practical training helps teams build shared understanding before confusion, inconsistency or risk escalates.

Swallowing & Dysphagia Support has launched an online dysphagia and IDDSI training course designed for aged care and disability teams. The course supports staff to understand dysphagia, IDDSI food and drink levels, safer mealtime support strategies and when to report swallowing concerns.

It can be used for staff onboarding, refresher training or building a consistent baseline of knowledge across catering, care, support and clinical roles.

Don’t wait for an incident, audit concern or complaint to review mealtime training. Give your team practical education they can use in everyday care.