Assessing and Supporting Management of an Older Adult’s Swallowing Postsurgery

Simulations are increasingly used in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) to enhance learning and evaluate student competency. They offer limitless clinical portrayals, repeated practice, feedback from multiple sources, and ensure patient safety while managing student anxiety. This challenging scenario at CQUniversity, Australia, prepares students for clinical practicum with older adults in a high-acuity area. As part of their final exam in the mandatory adult swallowing disorders course, students assess and report on a patient’s swallowing abilities. Each student is assigned one of several scenarios in a timed, video-recorded Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE) that include older simulated patients (SPs). This scenario involves an elderly patient with Parkinson’s disease who required a swallow assessment due to poor anesthesia response following orthopedic surgery.