Facilitating Effective Eating With DoddleBags: A Single-Arm Acceptability Study Of DoddleBags to Assess Impact on Self Feeding Behaviours in a Huntington's Disease Population
Primary Objectives * To assess the acceptability of using the DoddleBags feeding aid in people with HD, by using a food diary to track food intake and using semi-structured interviews to ask questions about how easy or difficult it was to use a DoddleBag for each meal compared to not using one, and learn more about the impact of using DoddleBags on self-feeding behaviours. * To review the impact of using DoddleBags during mealtimes on the weight and BMI of each participant. * To review the impact of using DoddleBags during mealtimes on episodes of choking of each participant. Secondary Objectives * To evaluate the impact of using DoddleBags on participants' attitudes towards mealtimes and eating, using a short battery of mood and eating questionnaires. * To measure how incorporating DoddleBags into mealtimes affects participants' perceived quality of life, using a short battery of mood and eating questionnaires. * To assess the acceptability of the short battery of mood and eating questionnaires within a population of people with HD.
• Aged 18 or over at the time of recruitment.
• Genetic confirmation of the HD gene expansion, defined as a CAG repeat length of ≥40 CAG repeats on the long allele.
• Chorea, uncontrollable bodily movements, to the extent that it, in the opinion of the participant, inhibits normal or typical use of an eating utensil such as a fork or spoon.
• AND/OR Cognitive issues that make it impractical for the participant to engage in self-feeding behaviours in a safe and effective manner, perhaps but not necessarily requiring the input of a carer or companion to feed the participant.