Daily living component activity 5 descriptor C (2 points)
Needs supervision or prompting to be able to manage toilet needs.
Who it applies to
Daily living component activity 5 descriptor C is most likely to apply to an individual living with mental health and/or cognitive conditions.
Meaning of terms
Prompting means reminding, encouraging or explaining by another person.
Supervision is the continuous presence of another person to help the person complete the activity safely.
For this descriptor prompting is likely to apply to an individual who needs to be reminded to go to the toilet or needs supervision to ensure that they clean themselves afterwards as part of the activity.
If an individual has significant symptoms due to a mental health condition or conditions
If an individual has significant symptoms due to a mental health condition or conditions, they may need encouragement to go to the toilet to prevent incontinence.
A large amount of information is likely to be available to support the descriptor being awarded for mental health, including but not limited to one or more of the following support categories:
- 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
If an individual needs encouragement to go to the toilet but is usually incontinent when reaching the toilet, a higher descriptor for daily living component activity 5 (descriptor E or F) is likely to be considered.
Example: an individual living with dementia, who satisfies daily living component activity 5 descriptor C
Application form
Jen has dementia and her Adult Disability Payment (ADP) application form was completed by her mum. She has a letter from her practice nurse that confirms that she’s prescribed incontinence underwear to use every day.
In her application, her mum has written that Jen needs to be reminded to use the toilet because she does not remember that she has not used the toilet recently or recognise the feeling that she will need to use the toilet soon.
Jen’s mum explains that she needs to be prompted to check if her incontinence pad is wet and is encouraged to change it if it is.
Case manager’s decision
Jen needs the encouragement of another person to manage her toilet needs, both to use the toilet to an acceptable standard and to manage her incontinence.
When she’s encouraged, she’s physically able to do this herself.
The case manager determines that Jen satisfies daily living component activity 5 descriptor C, because of the need for encouragement and prompting from another person to perform this activity to an acceptable standard.