Aging Swallow Research Lab (ASRL)

The Aging Swallow Research Lab (ASRL) is comprised of a team of trainees, research coordinators and research assistants under the guidance of Principal Investigator (PI) Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald, a clinically trained speech-language pathologist and an Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. In conjunction with its research partners, the lab investigates swallowing difficulties (dysphagia), comprehensive and collaborative approaches to dysphagia management and rehabilitation of swallowing difficulties that unites the biomedical and psychosocial aspects of care, and the psychosocial impacts of dysphagia including related caregiver burden.

Current research focuses on a) understanding dysphagia in older adults with dementia; b) developing multidisciplinary interventions to prevent impairment and maintain swallowing function in older adults; and c) understanding dysphagia-related caregiver burden in caregivers of older adults. With the aim of bridging the gap between research and clinical practice, the ASRL actively shares research through open access journals, conferences, presentations, social/print media and community events to share information about dysphagia in accessible ways for clinicians and community members living with dysphagia.