Receiving and processing nutrition is vital to maintaining life, so what do you do when you or a loved one lives with a condition that makes traditional eating impossible?
That’s where feeding tubes come in. Feeding tubes are a great solution for those who are unable to eat normally or can’t get enough calories by doing so.
People of every age all through the world live their lives with feeding tubes, and Feeding Tube Awareness Week helps to remove some of the mystery surrounding these devices and those who live with them.
History of Feeding Tube Awareness Week
The Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation started Feeding Tube Awareness Week in 2010 as an annual event that would help inform people about feeding tubes and their role as important life-saving interventions.
Additionally, this holiday helps to alleviate some of the mystery around the reasons someone may have a feeding tube, and what challenges are faced by those who live with them every day.
Through this holiday the Foundation helps to unite families and connect those who are facing similar struggles so they can experience the benefits of an active support system.
Feeding tubes were invented as a way to eliminate the need for enema based nutrition supplementation in the medical world. The enema process was slowly phased out in the 1800s after the introduction of surgically implanted feeding tubes, and while the overall technology has improved the actual use of feeding tubes remains much the same almost two centuries later.
Whether a patient suffers from a condition that prevents normal feeding, such as paralysis or surgical recovery, or is otherwise in need of these devices (such as patients with advanced dementia) feeding tubes can vastly improve quality of life and speed recovery for these patients.
How to Celebrate Feeding Tube Awareness Week
Celebrating Feeding Tube Awareness Week can be done in a number of ways, the best of which involves raising awareness about the use of feeding tubes. Some parents and patients choose to go to the media with stories of how they live with and conquer the challenges that face them as a patient with a feeding tube.
Others promote through social media by making posts featuring their feeding tubes or even producing videos to share through these platforms. Have a school-age child?
Take the time to arrange a presentation at the school to help educate all the students and faculty about feeding tubes and what school life with them can be like.
