As the disabled community grapple with the NDIS bill recently passed in parliament and also try and digest the recommendations for the Royal Commission into Abuse and Neglect of People with disability, we as advocates and participants on the scheme know that all is not safe in NDIS land.
Where you live can dictate what you eat, when you can eat and how much you can eat. Choice and control over food happens everywhere in homes across Australia. In Australia where you are what you eat; some of us do not get a choice. If you live in some supported living accommodation your choices are limited or you have no choice at all.
Does choice and control extend to your diet in a group home? Are group homes constructing meal plans with participants? Does the participant have input into what they eat? Are participants denied foods of their choice by the managers of groups homes, SDA managed properties and other entities receiving money from a participants NDIS package to give them a place to live and be cared for?
I have been told from a number of sources that participants are being forced to go on diets and have food restrictions. One chocolate bar a week is not something that the average person on the street restricts themselves to but in some groups homes this is the case.
Participants are denied food and the decision for denial is made by the group home or supported accommodation provider. After some valuable learning about Restrictive Practice learned at parliament today, as the Disability Inclusion Bill heads rapidly through parliament, I’ve learned this is not lawful.
When it was found that in nursing homes the quality of the food provided to residents was poor and lacking in nutrition there was a national outcry but little scrutiny it seems has been cast over those in disability care homes.
Diet is a complex issue in the disability community and where you live does determine the quality and quantity of food. Adolsson et al. (2008) observed in their study that the degree of disability does have an impact on diet.
Those living in community with low impairments are more likely to have a higher body weight index than those with more severe disabilities. Good to know. Those living in community, in units and flats, have access to whatever they like to eat. Just like the general population.
What I found concerning was the study undertaken by Hamzaid (2020) which found there was very little data around dietary intake of those living in group homes.
“There is limited information on the dietary intakes of people with intellectual disability (ID) living in group homes”.
In our Tasmanian context with small and many NDIS providers all over the state, who monitors the ‘choice and control’ of participants in group home in this state?
I am worried when I talk to people in community and hear that chocolate is restricted to one bar a week and is a luxury commodity. I hear where food is scheduled and and all participants eat the same thing.
Food is on a strict menu plan and support workers shop and cook to this plan. Quantity is controlled.
My questions are Is this done in collaboration with a dietitian? Or is it done to meet the financial needs of the organisation? And ease of operation?
I get that in some cases food does needs to be restricted. Some of those with Prader-Willi syndrome for instance need to have food restriction for their immediate health and safety. This is done in consultation with behaviour management practitioners and other allied health in collaboration with family and must be signed off by a higher authority.
The arbitrary decision by some overly paternalistic and zealous group home operator to restrict food is not one of the cases that would be sanctioned as necessary in a group home. There needs to be closer scrutiny.
In 2022, based on measured data from the ABS 2022 NHS, of adults aged 18 and over:
- 66% were living with overweight or obesity, approximately 13 million adults
- 34% were living with overweight but not obesity
- 32% were living with obesity
So, Australians in general have choice and control to overindulge to their hearts’ content without restriction, so why is it the people with disabilities are denied this same right.?
The statistics show that it is quite possible those who work and run the group homes themselves are most probably overweight but there seems to be one rule for them and one rule for those over whom they have power.
It’s not a crime to be overweight but it is a crime to hold unnecessary power and control over people with disability.
References
Adolfsson, P., Mattsson Sydner, Y., Fjellström, C., Lewin, B., & Andersson, A. (2008). Observed dietary intake in adults with intellectual disability living in the community. Food & Nutrition Research, 52(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/fnr.
Hamzaid NH, O’Connor HT, Flood VM. Observed Dietary Intake in Adults with Intellectual Disability Living in Group Homes. Nutrients. 2020; 12(1):37. https://doi.org/10.3390/
Overweight and obesity, summary (no date) Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/
Tammy Milne is a deaf interpreter, a community activist in various fields and a person living with Arthrogrophosis Multipex Congenita.
