11 February 2026
This year Swallowing Awareness Day takes place on 18 March 2026, coinciding with NHS Nutrition and Hydration Week (16-22 March 2026) and, once again, we’re partnering with Speech Pathology Australia to spotlight the invaluable contributions of SLTs in assisting individuals of all ages with dysphagia.
Eating, drinking and swallowing (EDS) difficulties, also known as dysphagia, can result from a variety of conditions, including neurological disorders, stroke, or structural problems in the throat or oesophagus, which can make the act of eating and drinking challenging. SLTs play a crucial role in helping people to manage and treat this condition so they can consume food and liquids safely and efficiently.
Our campaign posters and social media graphics, which are available to download in English and Welsh, 
have been updated to support this year’s campaign activity.
Get involved by sharing your stories – we want to hear about all the ways SLTs support people to eat, drink and swallow, including how technology is shaping practice, and the difference speech and language therapy interventions make.
We’d also like to hear from people who have, or know someone who has, received speech and language therapy support for eating, drinking and swallowing difficulties as well as other health professionals who work with SLTs in this area.
Use the hashtag #SwallowAware2026 and tag @RCSLT when posting on social media. We can’t wait to see your campaign activities!
Join our webinar
In the run up to Swallowing Awareness Day, we will be running a webinar on Monday 2 March, 6pm – Assessment to Intervention: Tech innovation in Adult & Paediatric eating, drinking and swallowing.
With advancements in technology rapidly changing how we assess and manage EDS difficulties, this webinar will explore three areas of practice and how they are changing:
- Critical care and FEES – how is technology changing our practice in critical care for adults and how is FEES for children and adults developing with technological advances.
- Phagenyx: Pharyngeal electrical stimulation – how can this new approach be utilised to improve outcomes for adults with swallowing difficulties
- High-resolution manometry – what does this tell us about an adult or child’s swallow and how can it guide effective intervention
