Photo: Kyle Hosman-ST; Karin Martindale-Assistant Dietary; Sarah Lanning-ST
Submitted by Angie Taylor, COTA/TPM, Shawnee Post Acute Care, Overland Park, KS
We usually get to see the beginning stages of new trainings, but it is so important to see that training carry over at the facility level. Shawnee PARC has done an outstanding job of rolling out the IDDSI program and, most importantly, fully collaborating with the Dietary department and Nursing staff to roll out the program completely with ongoing training and reinforcement to ensure accuracy.
It started after our IDDSI diet training from the resources that sparked a full IDT discussion and from collaborating on what strategies would ensure that we roll out a successful program. This included Speech Therapy, Dietary Management, Dietary staff and Nursing staff. The best strategy we determined was establishing a consistent, reliable line of communication. The team decided the easiest and most efficient way was to establish a Tiger Text account that was set up for dietary communication only. We included dietary management/staff and Speech Therapists, and they utilize that platform to request specialty trays to trial, ensure correct diets, communicate specific resident wants/needs, or any pertinent changes.
The IDT then decided to carry over correct diet level for snacks: the Speech Therapist labeled and s/u snack trays in each dining room, clearly labeling the correct diet level and ensuring the appropriate snacks were placed in each bin. This established consistent carryover and facility-wide understanding of the levels. We have enjoyed seeing the collaboration and processes develop, but more importantly, we realized that establishing a partnership and seeing that partnership grow into a strong and sustainable program would have never happened without the training and support the resources provided.