Abstract:
Swallowing impairments, or dysphagia, can have a dramatic impact on physical and psychological well-being. While a variety of compensatory strategies exist that attempt to target increased safety, they often do so at the expense of decreased quality of life. More naturalistic therapy techniques, such as using an external cueing aid for decreased eating rate, may simultaneously target increased safety and increased autonomy, offering a more appropriate treatment alternative to current options. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of a smartfork on eating rate and quality of meals in stroke survivors with dysphagia. Three individuals participated in the study. The research was conducted at Oregon Rehabilitation Center over the course of two meals: one meal was eaten without the use of the smartfork’s feedback and the second meal was eaten with the vibrotactile and visual feedback turned on. Results indicated that the fork was effective for two out of the three participants. Specifically, for those two participants, their rate of eating decreased and the percentage of bite intervals when the target rate of eating was met increased with the use of the smartfork feedback. The visual feedback provided by the fork was more effective than the vibrotactile feedback. All participants felt the fork maintained or improved the quality of their meal. These results suggest that a smarkfork is potentially a helpful device to make eating a safer and more enjoyable experience for people with dysphagia.