Slide show of some of the winning potluck entries.
SPOKANE, Wash. Two recent potlucks on the WSU Spokane campus seemed like the typical holiday office or department celebrations until you considered the foods offered: Mashed sweet potatoes and carrots, liquid “banana pancakes,” red beans and rice, golden mango pudding and more.
As an assignment, undergraduate speech and hearing sciences students prepared the easy-to-swallow dishes for fictional patients diagnosed with dysphagia (swallowing disorders). The food had to be nutritious, tasty and culturally appropriate for the client.
Problem-based learning; helpful review
“The potluck provides a fun end-of-the-semester way to bring in problem-based learning, in addition to cultural competency,” said Amy Meredith, clinical associate professor of speech and hearing sciences. She has been organizing these potlucks as part of her speech anatomy class for the past four years.
Speech-language pathologists sometimes see patients whose ability to chew and swallow is compromised (e.g. after a stroke or traumatic injury, or as part of a progressive neurological disease). Although dysphagia is covered in depth in the graduate program, Meredith said an introduction to the topic reviews all the different systems involved in speech and therefore makes for a good conclusion to her class.
For the students, the potluck provided an opportunity to solve a real-life scenario they might encounter in their practice down the road. For the judges, it was a chance to get out of their offices and connect with students.
E-book of recipes will be available
Student Shannon Scribner has a mother-in-law with Parkinson’s disease. Although she is doing well, she could experience difficulty swallowing as the disease progresses.
“I thought this potluck would give me some really good ideas,” Scribner said. “That way, we could prepare dishes for her that she could enjoy.”
With the help of teaching assistant Kelly Wiegardt, Meredith plans to compile the recipes from the potlucks into an e-book. Those interested in receiving the book once it’s done may email Amy Meredith at mereditha@wsu.edu.
Plans to involve more health disciplines
At the potlucks, students made short oral presentations on their fictional patients’ cases and the dishes they had prepared. Volunteer judges from the campus community tasted and judged entries in a number of categories, including best entrée, best ethnic dish, most appealing to the senses, most creative, most nutritious and more.
The students also tried each dish and voted for their favorites.
Meredith plans to continue this potluck tradition. She was pleased to see several nursing faculty participate as judges and hopes the event will draw faculty and students from other health-related programs in the future. She also plans to explore the possibility of connecting with patient support groups in the community.