[Dysphagia] food holding

[hillivie423 at adelphia.net (hillivie423@adelphia.net)]

Does anyone have any suggestions to support a 72 year old gentleman who has profound mental retardation, eats a soft cooked, diced diet that is spoon fed to him by a staff person.  He has recently shown some changes that might suggest a dementia, such as taking a bite of food and then holding it in his mouth for several seconds, apparently not knowing what to do with it.  He also has had a couple of incidents of urinary incontinence, to which he did not respond.  He had previously taken himself to the bathroom consistently.  He also has always walked independently, but is now unsteady in his gait.  I'm looking for any ideas that have worked for others, in how to cue him to swallow.
Thank you.