An interdisciplinary feeding team approach for preterm, high-risk infants and children

Poor oral feeding abilities in high-risk infants and children require inter disciplinary assessment and treatment in relation to nutrition, growth, ora l feeding skills, behavioural interactions, and family coping. This paper d escribes the Perinatal Feeding Team's experiences, the format of our assess ments, and the frequency of interventions recommended for 33 patients refer red over 18 months. The most frequent reasons for assessment were suspected oral sensorimotor dysfunction/disorganization, decreased growth velocity, and feeding skills delay (each 18.3%); aversive reactions to feeding (14%) and significant parental stress around feedings (13.3%). Preassessment tool s facilitated identification of relevant feeding problems. The dietitian, o ccupational therapist, psychologist, and parents played specific roles in p roviding a comprehensive feeding assessment. Interventions most frequently recommended were nutrition counselling (97%), food texture and feeding skil l progression (90.9%), and normalizing sensorimotor function (84.8%). These findings led to the development of the Oral Eating Readiness Assessment Li st (ORAL(C)). Coordinated care plans are individualized and prioritized wit h parents. Our collaborative approach to multifaceted feeding difficulties in a follow-up clinic for preterm, high-risk children continues to evolve a s we learn more about the needs of these children and their families.