Madeline Engelking and Nikki Finkenthal

Final Written Report

3/10/16

Dysphagia: Modified food consistency

Overall our meal management project turned out very nicely and truly better than

we expected. Considering the fact that we started planning the project a little late we were

somewhat nervous how the recipes, timing and overall presentation would turn out, but in

the end both of us were very impressed with the final outcome. Based on our master

schedule the setup, preparation, timing and presentation all occurred at the correct times

that we wanted which made the project go very smoothly. One of the biggest advantages

to our success was our teams personal preparation before class started. Coming in

roughly an hour early really set us up for a good project because it gave us time to

prepare the whiteboard, set out the ingredients for each team and get all the needed

supplies. If we didnt come in early I think that we would have been lacking in time and

really pressured to finish before the class was over. In regards to our recipes, I think that

we found simple, nutritious and good tasting recipes that were applicable to our topic.

After the meal we had a lot of positive feedback on how our recipes tasted and looked,

which was very rewarding for our team. The feedback also gave us a better idea on how

these recipes could actually be prepared and provided to an individual patient with

dysphagia or someone who is in need of a modified menu. Another positive outcome of

our project was meeting the certain needed nutrients based on our patients conditions

After completing the nutritional analysis we were very pleased with the outcome of each

category knowing that our patient would receive the needed amounts. When dealing with

this topic I initially thought that it would be hard to accomplish an appetizing and

appealing menu based on our patients condition, but the reactions and feedback from the
class made us realize that with the proper research and preparation our patient can eat a

healthy and flavorful menu on a day to day basis. Another aspect of our project that went

really well was the nutritional tool video we presented to the class on purees and puree

food presentation. A lot of our classmates had never seen the tools that hospitals used to

present pureed food to patients, so it was very informative and educational for the whole

class. The reactions to the video also gave us a better idea on how useful the video would

be to potential clients and hospital workers as well.

Some things that could have gone better were the amount of food produced. Once

our presentation was over, we noticed that quite a bit of the food was already gone. One

of the recipes specifically was the avocado black bean salsa. We could also look at this as

a positive by the fact that people liked it so much that they went up for seconds! One

issue that we had occur was the meatloaf. The preparation took the team a little longer

than expected to prepare and then we had to decide what was the best way to cook it at

the quickest time. We decided that little muffins were the best option. The meatloaf

muffins were not ready on time and the students had to get them after the presentation.

Another issue we had come up was cucumber being mistaken for zucchini! It is a very

easy mix-up so we understood the mix-up! In the vegetable saute, we then substituted the

zucchini for extra broccoli in the fridge which definitely worked. Another recipe that

required the zucchini was the blueberry zucchini muffins. We werent going to add

broccoli to the muffins so we just left vegetables out all together. The last thing that we

could have improved on to fully attend to our patient would be having recipes that

consisted of all foods that could easily be purred. The main recipe that would be hard to
puree or swallow would be the jicama in the fruit salad or nuts in the muffins. Overall, we

were extremely happy with the outcome of our project and received great feedback.

BLOG:
The topic of our lab is dysphagia and modified food consistency. For our patients we
needed to create and provide a menu based on the various stages of recovery and
condition level of each patient. Many of the patients that have dysphagia or are in need of
a modified consistency menu are all at different stages of recovery and condition levels,
thus requiring a wide variety of foods provided. Our menu highlighted the full liquid,
clear liquid, puree and mechanical soft phases of a dysphagia based menu. Incorporating
recipes that fulfill the needed nutritional needs as well as meeting the personal needs of
our patient gave our menu a wide variety of foods and recipes that were not only
beneficial in terms of health, but also were appetizing and appealing to the patient.