Daily living component activity 2 descriptor F (10 points)
Cannot convey food and drink to their mouth and needs another person to do so.
Who it’s most likely to apply to
Daily living component activity 2 descriptor F is most likely to apply to an individual whose needs relate to:
- physical health conditions and/or
- conditions impacting their cognitive abilities
Example: an individual who has cerebral palsy, who satisfies daily living component activity 2 descriptor F
Nick has cerebral palsy and although he has occupational therapy and physiotherapy, he has not been able to use his arms since childhood.
Both of his arms have contractures, which means that he is unable use them.
Application form
His ADP application form was completed by his partner, who’s also his full-time carer.
They explain that at mealtimes, Nick has to be helped by someone else because he:
- cannot move his arms,
- cannot grip cutlery and
- cannot bring his hands to his mouth
Supporting information
He has a letter from a neurologist that confirms his diagnosis.
Case manager’s decision
As Nick is unable to bring his hands to his mouth and unable to hold cutlery he requires another person to help him eat every meal.
The case manager determines that Nick satisfies daily living component activity 2 descriptor F because of this need of another person to convey food and drink to his mouth.
Refer to the reliability criteria when choosing descriptors
As with all daily living activities, a client’s ability to take nutrition must be considered with reference to the reliability criteria.
The reliability criteria are likely to be relevant to this activity in the following ways.
Safely
If the client:
- has a disability which affects their ability to chew and swallow, they may be at risk of choking, and so require supervision or assistance to able to complete the activity safely
- has a disability which means they have no choice or control over what and how much they eat, such as Prader-Willi Syndrome, they may be at risk of trying to eat something harmful, and so require supervision to be able to complete the activity safely. If the client reports that they are unable to regulate the quantity of food that they eat due to a condition relating to their mental or physical health this should also be considered.
- is diabetic and has severe depression which impacts their motivation to eat, they may be at risk of not maintaining their blood sugar levels and so, require prompting to be able to complete the activity safely
- has a condition that results in them eating so quickly or compulsively that choking or serious vomiting risks arise
Within a reasonable time period
If a client is able to take nutrition but due to muscle spasms and tremors it takes them an hour to finish a plate of food, they are not able to do so within a reasonable time period.
To an acceptable standard
If the client is able to:
- take nutrition but in doing so, they get what they’re consuming on their body and/or clothes, beyond what would ordinarily be expected, they’re likely not able to take nutrition to an acceptable standard
- set up a therapeutic source but in doing so, they regularly cause the feed to leak or blockages to occur, beyond what is reasonable when using feeding pumps etc, they likely need assistance to take nutrition to an acceptable standard
Repeatedly
If a client:
- is able to feed themselves breakfast but it causes them so much fatigue that they’re then unable to feed themselves lunch, they’re unable to complete the activity repeatedly as it is reasonable to expect an individual to be able to feed themselves 3 times a day
- has toeat at regular intervals and multiple times throughout the day due to being diabetic, they're reasonably required to be able to undertake the activity more times a day than would otherwise be expected. If such a client is then unable to complete the activity as often as required due to their disability, they would be unable to complete it repeatedly – even although they may be able to do so 3 times a day
An individual may, for reasons relating to a mental or physical health condition, continue or repeat the act of taking nutrition (food or drink) compulsively when it is no longer reasonably required.
For example, an individual with post-traumatic stress disorder may feel compelled to eat food whenever it’s available to them, regardless of:
- how recently they’ve eaten,
- the time of day or
- whether they are in fact hungry