Daily living component activity 2 descriptor D (4 points)
Needs prompting to be able to take nutrition.
Who it’s most likely to apply to
Daily living component activity 2 descriptor D is most likely to apply to an individual whose needs relate to:
- a mental health condition and/or
- conditions that impact their cognitive abilities
Who it’s likely to apply to
Clients who this descriptor is relevant to are likely to need to be:
- encouraged to eat due to a significant lack of motivation or aversion to taking nutrition caused by severe depression or anorexia;
- reminded to eat due to loss of memory;
- encouraged not to eat or to refrain from eating certain things due to difficulty in controlling their impulse to eat caused by a condition such as Prader-Willi Syndrome. (Note: this would not apply to clients who have choice and control over what and how much they eat).
- cannot regulate their nutrition intake because of a mental or physical health condition, resulting in compulsive overeating
Meaning of prompting
‘Prompting’ means reminding, encouraging or explaining by another person. This does not have to be in the physical presence of the individual.
While mild and moderate depression may affect appetite and motivation to eat to an extent, in order for a client to require prompting to overcome these challenges, they would need to:
- be experiencing severe depression or
- have a serious eating disorder, such as anorexia
Supporting information which would indicate a need for prompting would include:
- mental health care plans
- higher levels of health professional or social work mental health officer input
- potent medication prescribed by:
- a qualified health care professional and/or
- regular mental health or psychiatric treatment
Example: an individual who has Prader-Willi syndrome, who satisfies daily living component activity 2 descriptor D
Kyle’s 19 years old and has Prader-Willi syndrome. This is a congenital disorder characterised by excessive appetite.
He lives with his mum and dad, and they have completed his ADP application form for him. He also has a letter from his GP which confirms his diagnosis.
Application form
In his application form, it says that his meals are prepared for him. He’ll eat everything on his plate and then watch everyone else finish, in case there’s anything left over.
His mum and dad have to make sure that the kitchen cupboards are locked otherwise he would eat everything. They explain that they tell him not to keep eating, but because of the Prader-Willi syndrome, he tries to get food all the time.
As Kyle has a condition that causes him to feel the need to eat all the time, he has to be encouraged by another person not to eat. This is always his parents, and they have to do it a number of times a day.
Case manager’s decision
The case manager determines that Kyle satisfies daily living component activity 2 descriptor D because of the active encouragement by another person to perform this activity to an acceptable standard (see reliability criteria below).