An Interdisciplinary Team Approach to the Management of Pediatric Feeding and Swallowing Disorders

Abstract

Children with complex feeding problems frequently are involved with many health care services given the multiple medical and developmental issues impacting on feeding progress. The key to providing well-coordinated clinical services for these patients is to use an interdisciplinary team approach. In this article we describe a model of interdisciplinary team care for medically complex children with chronic feeding, swallowing, nutrition, and growth problems. A description of the functional roles of each of the disciplines represented on the team (nursing, nutrition, speech pathology, occupational therapy, psychology, and gastroenterology) is provided.