About Dr. Jeanette Benigas and Safe Swallowing Diagnostics
Safe Swallowing Diagnostics is a founder-led mobile FEES practice in Ohio. When your facility works with us, you work with Dr. Benigas herself.
Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP
Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP, brings two decades of clinical experience and advanced doctoral training with a dual focus in swallowing and dementia/adult neurological disorders to every assessment. A speech-language pathologist, researcher, and former full professor, she earned her PhD from The Ohio State University with dual specializations in adult neurogenic communication disorders and swallowing disorders, along with an interdisciplinary specialization in aging. She founded Safe Swallowing Diagnostics to give patients access to expert instrumental swallowing assessment without the burden of traveling outside their facility or home.
Her clinical experience spans acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, post-acute rehabilitation, long-term care, home health, and outpatient services. That breadth has resulted in Jeanette understanding how swallowing needs change throughout recovery and how recommendations must translate into daily care. Her fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) reports connect diagnostic findings with individualized, practical recommendations that help treating clinicians and care teams make informed decisions about eating, drinking, and treatment.
Jeanette’s research focuses on preserving quality of life for people with dementia, particularly those with eating and swallowing difficulties. Her work has examined the use of visual supports and spaced retrieval to help people learn and use swallowing strategies. This expertise informs an approach that considers each patient’s abilities, preferences, and potential to benefit from treatment while seeking to avoid unnecessary dietary restrictions.
As an educator, Jeanette has spent more than a decade preparing future speech-language pathologists to evaluate and treat swallowing and other medically complex conditions. She also trains practicing speech-language pathologists to develop basic competency in performing FEES. She brings that same depth of knowledge to her clinical partnerships, helping teams understand the findings, the reasoning behind recommendations, and the next steps for care. Her goal is to support the safest, least restrictive eating and drinking options appropriate for each person while protecting the dignity and enjoyment that make mealtimes meaningful.
Education, teaching & history
Education
- Bachelor’s degree in speech-language pathology, The University of Toledo
- Master’s degree in speech-language pathology, Eastern Michigan University
- PhD, The Ohio State University, with dual specializations in adult neurogenic communication disorders and swallowing disorders, plus an interdisciplinary specialization in aging
Academic & teaching
- Former full professor with more than a decade of experience preparing future SLPs to evaluate and treat swallowing and medically complex conditions
- Continuing education instructor on MedBridge, with courses on dysphagia, dementia, memory, and patient rights
- Co-instructor of FEES Essentials Live, a hands-on FEES training course for SLPs
- National speaker to fellow speech-language pathologists
Publications
- Co-author of Spaced Retrieval Step by Step: An Evidence-Based Memory Intervention (Health Professions Press, 2016)
- Contributor to The ASHA Leader on spaced retrieval in clinical practice
Advocacy
- Co-founder of Fix SLP and host of the Fix SLP podcast on advocacy, autonomy, and reimbursement in speech-language pathology
- Co-host of the Other SLPs’ Pockets podcast on pay transparency
- Founding member of the SLP Data Initiative
Small by design
Safe Swallowing Diagnostics is intentionally small. Dr. Benigas performs studies herself, with the support of one per diem clinician who follows the same protocol and report format. That keeps quality consistent and communication simple.
You reach the founder
You work with Dr. Benigas directly. There’s no call center or scheduling queue.
One protocol, one report
Every study follows the same clinical protocol and report format, so results are easy to compare over time.
Collaboration at bedside
Your SLP is invited into every study. We make decisions together, in real time.
Ready to bring FEES to your building?
Ask about adding your building, or book an in-service for your rehab team.