thumb|A nurse assisting a patient. 1941 '''Assisted feeding''', also called '''hand feeding''' or '''oral feeding''', is the action of a person feeding another person who cannot otherwise feed themselves. The term is used in the context of some medical issue or in response to a disability, such as when a person living with dementia is no longer able to manage eating alone. The person being fed must be able to eat by mouth, but lacks either the cognitive or physical ability to self-feed. Individuals who are born with a disability like cerebral palsy, or arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (AMC) may be unable to feed themselves. Also, those who acquire a disability due to an accident or a disease like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) may require hand feeding because they may become unable to pick-up and bring food to their own mouth.
==Assisted feeding as an alternative to tube feeding== {{main|Feeding tube}} A feeding tube is a medical device used to provide nutrition to patients who cannot obtain nutrition by mouth, are unable to swallow safely, or need nutritional supplementation.<ref name="Gillick">{{Cite journal | last1 = Gillick | first1 = M. R. | title = Rethinking the Role of Tube Feeding in Patients with Advanced Dementia | doi = 10.1056/NEJM200001203420312 | journal = New England Journal of Medicine | volume = 342 | issue = 3 | pages = 206–210 | year = 2000 | pmid = 10639550 }}</ref> Patients who are able to use assisted feeding should have that in preference to tube feeding whenever possible.<ref name="Gillick"/>
Oral assisted feedings are preferable to percutaneous feeding in individuals with advanced dementia.<ref>{{Citation |author1 = AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine |author1-link = AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine |date = February 2014 |title = Ten Things Physicians and Patients Should Question |publisher = AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine |work = Choosing Wisely: an initiative of the ABIM Foundation |url = http://www.choosingwisely.org/doctor-patient-lists/amda/ |access-date = 20 April 2015}}.</ref>
==Monetary costs== In the United States a study reviewed a set of patients and found that the expenses to arrange assisted feeding for patients was higher than the cost of using a feeding tube.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Mitchell | first1 = S. L. | last2 = Buchanan | first2 = J. L. | last3 = Littlehale | first3 = S. | last4 = Hamel | first4 = M. B. | title = Tube-Feeding Versus Hand-Feeding Nursing Home Residents with Advanced Dementia: A Cost Comparison | doi = 10.1016/S1525-8610(04)70086-9 | journal = Journal of the American Medical Directors Association | volume = 5 | issue = 2 | pages = S23 | year = 2004 | pmid = 14984607}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * {{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/health/03feed.html |title=Feeding Dementia Patients With Dignity |first=Roni Caryn |last=Rabin |work=The New York Times |date=2 August 2010 |location=New York |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=22 January 2014}}
Category:Digestive system procedures Category:Interpersonal relationships