January 2020

IN THIS BITE
  • IDDSI Flow Test
  • Syringe Availability
  • IDDSI Across the Globe
  • Webinars
  • Translations
  • IDDSI on the Move
IDDSI WELCOMES 2020
Happy new year to everyone around the globe – we hope 2020 is as exciting as 2019 as so many individuals, organizations, regions and countries move forward with IDDSI implementation.
OPTIONS FOR PERFORMING THE IDDSI FLOW TEST

As you may be aware, IDDSI has been working on a purposed-design funnel for easy and standard testing of thickened liquids. However the production of the IDDSI funnels in China has encountered difficulties reaching their internal quality-control performance checks when producing large production runs. 
 
At the meantime, IDDSI would like to draw attention to a  syringe available in Europe  which is suitable for carrying out an IDDSI flow test.
 
BD 305959 has a Luer-lok screw thread around the outside of the nozzle, however it has the same internal nozzle dimensions as the US syringe 303134, therefore will give the same results. The IDDSI funnel has been designed with these dimensions too. 
The syringe with code BD 302188 which was previously available in the European area until 2018, had tiny differences in the nozzle dimensions compared to the above-mentioned syringes (slightly longer nozzle) but the measurements were equivalent for starch and gum-thickened liquids. For some oral nutritional supplements (ONS) the consistency is very sensitive to temperature and also sensitive to these tiny variations in nozzle dimensions. Some ONS are more syrupy and sticky in consistency than conventional thickened beverages, so it may be worth extra clinical attention to ensure that patients are safe and comfortable with a given ONS.
 
For IDDSI users in Europe, please contact your medical supplies department and provide them with the BD code 305959 to order these syringes.
 
More information about the IDDSI Funnel will follow!
IDDSI ACROSS THE GLOBE 


Israel
An IDDSI workshop was  provided as part of the dysphagia course in the in department of communication disorders at Haifa University taught by Dr. Oshrat Sella. Students found the hands on workshop very helpful in promoting understanding the clinical implications of liquid thicknesses and food textures.  
‘The feedback was great, the students said they now understand what thickening liquids mean, changing the texture of food, and the clinical implications of it.’ - Dr. Oshrat Sella
Canada
The Canadian IDDSI Expert Reference Group (CIERGE) continues to be very active with different subcommittees working to share information and resources and update on IDDSI activities across Canada.  A national IDDSI survey was conducted in 2019 and a summary of responses will be shared soon. CIERG is working on developing a registry to help those involved with IDDSI implementation to connect and learn from each other.


United States of America: HPSI 2020 Conference, Huntington Beach, CA
Many thanks to HPSI & SimplyThick for hosting an IDDSI workshop at the 2020 HPSI conference.  Participants had a great time playing with the IDDSI flow test and modifying food into IDDSI texture levels for IDDSI texture testing.
Watch for announcements of new webinar sessions in 2020. 

If you missed their webinar, please check out the recording here .
IDDSI Translations

We continue to work on increasing the number of translations we have available for our IDDSI documents. We're currently in the process of updating existing translations to include Level 7 EC.
 
We are extremely grateful to those volunteers who have worked hard to do the translations and to those who have provided review and feedback.  Without their commitment, we would not have been able to provide the number of translations that we have.  Our goal is to eventually expand the number of translated documents, particularly our consumer handouts to help those who experience dysphagia.

Check out our  Translations tab.

IDDSI on the Move

  • January 2020 – HPSI Annual Conference, Huntington Beach, USA
  • February 2020 – UKSRG Conference, London, UK
  • March 2020 – Dysphagia Research Society Conference. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
  • April 2020 – DGD Conference (German Dysphagia Society) Wurzburg, Germany
Sponsors

IDDSI is pleased to welcome Precise and Simply Thick as our newest joint Platinum Sponsor. We truly appreciate the generous support from our many sponsors who make our work possible!
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