The Health Risk Screening Tool (HRST): Aspiration
Why Doesn’t the HRST Concern Itself with Aspiration?
Actually, it does.
Several of the Rating Items on the HRST cover each of the areas of risk associated with aspiration.
Item A. Eating – Identifies those who are fed via a tube or have significant risks or supports in place to eat safely.
Item B. Ambulation – (Yes, Ambulation) tells you who needs significant support to maintain a seated position due to significant physical deformity or problems with trunk control.
Item G. Self-Abuse – Looks at behaviors like rumination, hand-mouthing, pica, food stuffing, or any other behaviors that place the person at risk of an aspiration event.
Item K. Gastrointestinal (GI) Conditions -Focuses on those who have such conditions as GERD or who have behaviors that may indicate unidentified reflux.
Item P. Nutrition – Identifies several factors, including unplanned weight loss and suspicious lab values, which may indicate that a person has issues that would predispose them to respond poorly to an aspiration event. The person will have a score of 4 in this Rating Item if they have had one or more hospitalizations for aspiration within the last year.
And if they had a severe occurrence, Rating Item Q may be scored due to the interventions needed to care for the person following the incident.
Don’t forget the HRST Considerations! Once the Rating Items are accurately scored, the problem is half-managed.
One of the unique features of the HRST is that once it spots trouble, it generates a plethora of helpful suggestions in the form of Service and Training Considerations. When a person receives a score on any of the above-mentioned items, HRST Considerations are generated to support the team in guiding the person out of harm’s way. These include assistance from appropriate professionals and training of direct caregivers in areas like positioning and seating, behavioral supports, mealtime planning, returning to oral feeding when possible, and many, MANY others.
If you have concerns about a person for whom you provide services, please take time to review the HRST Considerations. If you have questions our clinical support staff is available to discuss these concerns with you at your convenience.
