Speech-Language Pathologists' Views About Aspiration Risk and Comfort Feeding in Advanced Dementia.

Speech-language pathologists have an important role within the interprofessional team in assessing swallowing in patients with advanced dementia, advising family and hospital staff about risks and benefits of oral feeding, and the safest techniques for doing so, to maximize quality of life for these patients near the end of life. Speech-language pathologists are often faced with balancing concerns about aspiration risk and recommending the more palliative approach of oral feeding for pleasure and comfort, potentially creating moral distress for the SLP.