Speech therapist won't allow regular food. What are our rights?

GardenArtist said it best and I agree with her. Your speech therapist is advocating for her client and she knows better than we would. Swallowing precautions are taken very seriously for a reason. I know smushed up meatloaf is not half as appetizing as a slice of steak but a mouthful of steak can kill a person on swallowing precautions.

It's also risky to bring him treats from home that haven't been OK'd by the speech therapist.

If he were on respiratory therapy would you want him to go against the therapist's orders?

My father didn't like pureed food either. I cooked food at home to a mush state but didn't actually puree it and Dad would eat it. Dad always liked a lot of soft foods like mashed potatoes, soups, ice cream, applesauce, puddings, cornbread soaked in milk. I cooked meats in a savory broth for hours until it was so tender it separated easily, the cut in into 1/4" bites and kept it very moist or used in soups. Extra milk in the mashed potatoes and puddings, melt the ice cream and stir it up until it was soft serve consistency, etc. Chicken noodle soup and cream of potato and tomato soups worked well too. I was very lucky the MC (which had a 24/7 kitchen access policy) was willing to heat and serve the food I prepared at home. My brother was able to be there for most meals to sit with Dad and help if needed and the staff was able to cover the occasional meal when a family member couldn't get there.

You (as POA) have a legal right to make a choice against medical advice and refuse treatment, including pureed foods; however, please read GardenArtist's post carefully and make sure you understand all the risks. My father had vascular dementia and was "living on borrowed time" according to his heart doctor when I made the decision to embrace a soft diet instead of the recommended pureed foods. I choose Dad's comfort over the risks of an earlier death when death was coming in weeks or months. I even quartered soft center chocolates for Dad. Are you prepared to see your father choke and die or develop pneumonia and die as his lungs fill with fluid and he cannot breathe?

Luisa,  the speech therapist is performing her medical duty, which is to prescribe the appropriate restricted diet for someone who apparently has dysphagia.   If she switched (or upgraded) to mechanical soft food, it suggests to me that he did show improvements, and was able to manage that level of food.

He might hate it, but you both need to understand that not only is she doing what's best for him, that she as a medical professional understands dysphagia and the results, and that if he does eat "regular food", he runs the risk of aspiration pneumonia, or choking on his food.    

In a higher level of dysphagia (pureed foods only), not only are aspiration and choking more dangerous, but cyanosis (face turns blue) can occur.   That's a  life threatening emergency.   If you ever see it, it'll be very difficult for you to view and to remain calm.     

You do have the right to refuse the proper treatment, as does your father, but you have to accept that you're ignoring proper, legitimate medical advice and putting your father at the risk of choking, aspirating, and being unable to breath.

If you've never seen how horrifying this is, prepare yourself.    It's frightening.    And you and your father would have to accept the blame and responsibility for this decision.

What I would suggest is that instead of blaming the speech therapist, that you (a)  read up on dysphagia so you understand it, then (b) apologize to the therapist and ask her to guide you in preparing as best you can food that is appropriate for his level of compromised ability to eat.   

She's probably not particularly pleasant with you b/c you don't understand the issues, and your position endangers your father's health and life.  

As one speech pathologist explained to us:   sure, you can eat what you want, and recognize that it may kill you.  And that's not an understatement.

If the POA your father executed is for legal and financial, it's not relevant to health care decisions.    You would need a medical POA or Living Will, or other document that gives you authority to make decisions on medical issues.  And you would be taking responsibility for NOT ensuring that he gets proper medical care.   

I do have P O A