Manual of Dysphagia Assessment in Adults

Rating:
Summary: A clinician's handbook: from novice to tutor
Review: Of the growing number of texts in dysphagia management, this books still holds its own. "Manual of dysphagia assessment..." achieves the balance of focus (on specific methods of assessment) and breadth (of clinician level of skill and interest). In the current climate of demand for instrumental assessment, the clinical swallow exam is justly covered in detail, from social and medical history, to areas only recently receiving recognition for their importance, such as oral hygiene.
The clinical swallow exam, videofluoroscopic and laryngoscopic swallow evals are covered thoroughly. Each section can be read/referred to in isolation. Where I think this book is really useful is that the major swallow assessments are together in one compact volume; presented in a manner that makes comparison much easier than in some texts. The manual is written in a format that is equally useful propped up beside me in clinic or as a reference for teaching. There are many citations to research although critical appraisal of these works is left to the reader.
The structured assessment presentation is great for both the novice and experienced practitioner. Although there is a wealth of information, this is far from a dry text; it is written by a practicing speech-language pathologist with obvious experience. You can see he actually knows what a patient looks like. Mr Murray details those points we all like to think we remember in our daily work and a few we might never have thought of. I avidly read this book as a novice and I'm still referring to it some years later as a tutor!