Food Networks

Bendigo’s Anna Deacon shares inclusive family recipes for people with dysphagia

It can happen at any stage of life, and you might not have even heard of it, but about 1 million Australians are living with a condition called dysphagia, according to Speech Pathology Australia.

Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, can result in problems drinking, chewing, sucking, eating or controlling saliva, and the older you are, the more likely you are to live with the condition.

Hard, chewy and crunchy textures can be a serious health risk to those with dysphagia, but when they’re removed from food, taste often suffers.

It’s something Anna Deacon thought about a lot during the pandemic lockdowns.

“A friend who has dysphagia mentioned how fussy other people are about what she eats, and they always go out of their way to give her something completely different,” she said.

“But she really would prefer to have what everyone else is having, just made to the right texture.

The stay-at-home mum from Bendigo created and self-published a recipe book for those “who need soft foods and want to keep sharing beautiful meals with their family and friends”.

Anna Deacon standing in a kitchen holding her recipe book.

Cooking for her grandparents inspired Anna Deacon to write a soft-foods recipe book.(ABC Central Victoria: Jo Printz)

Cooking for both young and old

Ms Deacon said it was her experience of catering for her grandparents’ Christmas parties 15 years ago and then having young children that led her to formulate these recipes.

“My sister is a speech pathologist, and before COVID she was asking me if I had any soft food recipes,” Ms Deacon said.

“So I started writing mine out, and I couldn’t really stop.

“I wrote a whole cookbook. It’s got 75 recipes in it, and I’ve got more online and more to come.”

Anna Deacon chopping ginger, onions and garlic with a knife on a wooden board.

Anna Deacon’s recipe book aims to be inclusive for those with dysphagia.(ABC Central Victoria: Jo Printz)

Eating soft, pureed foods is how most babies are introduced to the culinary world beyond milk, and, in many cases, what older people return to, as chewing and swallowing become more of a challenge.

But there are others in the community who also need to follow a mechanical soft diet or texture-modified diet.

Those with motor neurone disease (MND) and Parkinson’s disease, dementia, cerebral palsy, head injuries and stroke survivors can all have difficulty swallowing.

Dysphagia can be temporary or lifelong

Speech pathologist Kellie Stagg says dysphagia is more common than people expect.

“It’s a condition that can affect people across the lifespan, from babies all the way through to people later in their life,” she said.

“Any condition that affects the brain can have an impact on the nerves and muscles involved in swallowing.

“Around half the people who have experienced a stroke may have swallowing problems.”

A woman with brown shoulder length hair, wearing glasses and a tan jacket.

Speech pathologist Kellie Stagg lectures at the La Trobe Rural Health School in Bendigo.(ABC Central Victoria: Jo Printz)

Ms Stagg says dysphagia can be a short-term condition, with the swallowing function recovering, but for some people, it can be a lifelong challenge.

About 15 to 30 per cent of people aged 65 and over living in the community have a swallowing difficulty, rising to over 50 per cent for older Australians living in a nursing home.

“There are some age-related changes that can affect our swallowing, and other factors like dementia, or being dependent on someone else for feeding can have an impact on your ability to swallow as well,” Ms Stagg said.

“It’s something that [aged care staff] certainly need to be very mindful of, and they are mindful of potentially providing some extra support for people at mealtimes.”

Help for home cooks

Ms Deacon hopes her book makes it easier for home cooks to be inclusive of everyone.

“Friends [with babies] have said that they use my book almost exclusively,” she said.

“It’s family food that is just automatically sensible for the child. So yes, it’s absolutely targeted everyone.”