Pediatric Feeding Disorders are complex and can include multiple components, including medical, nutritional, feeding skills and psychosocial factors (Goday, et al., 2019). Children and families require skilled professionals across a variety of disciplines, such as speech language pathology, occupational therapy, psychology, gastroenterologists, and allergists. While there are multidisciplinary evaluation clinics across America, most interventions are conducted with a primary discipline, with some co-treatments. As I have worked in multiple settings and with multiple disciplines, I have had the opportunity to work with tremendous therapists and physicians who truly meet the definition of collaborative care. I have also seen great variation in collaboration. Even now, I read information online that sets disciplines against each other and creates divisiveness in our ability to treat children and families and work together. This makes it difficult for us to provide comprehensive care to families.
At Mealtime Rediscovered, we are committed to finding common ground in the assessment and treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders. We strive to review different approaches to feeding and connect our strategies for a more unified implementation of services. It is important to learn from each other, and have our skill sets become more integrative. For example, I have learned enough from my speech-language colleagues to observe when a child may be aspirating, and ask them to come and observe a session for further assessment. Instead of referring out, I attempt a co-treatment so I can learn and be more informed. I don’t conduct the swallowing observation, but I have a chance to learn more about their skill set and assessment/treatment strategies. In the same vein, I have had occupational therapists that include me in sensory interventions surrounding whole body and food integration, and I have so much respect for what they add to feeding interventions. Psychologists can add valued information to your practice, from understanding the functions of behavior, how to address food aversion, incorporating parent education into your practice, generalizing treatment progress to the home settings, collecting simple data to prove your strategies work, and managing obstacles and resistance. We are all working on the same general goals, we should all work together, with mutual respect and collaboration.
Please join me in having all disciplines learn from each other to provide more collaborative care for children and families with Pediatric Feeding Disorders. Courses for Mealtime Rediscovered will begin around March 2024. Feel free to contact me for more information.
Kimberly Brown PhD, Psychological Services, PLLC
Mealtimerediscovered.com
(585) 210-2332