​Assessment
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a diagnosis with a varied presentation. A comprehensive assessment is essential to effective treatment. Our assessment considers the factors which have contributed to, and are maintaining, the avoidance or restriction of oral intake whilst also taking into account possible physical and nutritional risk.
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Please see Fees section for further information on costs
1
Pre-assessment
Questionnaires: These will screen for wider areas of difficulty e.g. anxiety, low mood and neurodiversity. This will allow us to tailor the clinical interview and consider all factors that might be contributing and maintaining the difficulties with eating.
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3 day food diary: We will ask you to provide a detailed food diary to get a picture of current patterns of eating as well as types and amounts of food and fluid consumed. This will help us to understand the difficulties better.
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We will send you these at the time of booking your assessment and ask that you send them back in advance of the clinical interview date.
2
Clinical Interview
The Clinical Interview covers a range of topics in order to understand the factors that may have contributed to and are maintaining the difficulties with eating. We also aim to understand how the difficulties impact on your/your child's quality of life and psychosocial functioning.​
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• The avoidance or restriction of eating in terms of its development, the factors driving this and the impact.
• Current eating behaviour including types of food/fluid, mealtime environment and supplementation
• Family background
• Work/Academic history
• Developmental History
• Hobbies and interests
• Psychiatric history
• Medical history and current physical health
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This will take up to 90 minutes and will take place virtually via Microsoft Teams.
3
Team Discussion
For all assessments we meet together to develop a clear understanding of the difficulties. We take into account any psychological, physical and nutritional risk to decide next steps and if any treatment may be recommended.
For us to consider whether you or your child meets the diagnostic criteria ARFID, we will need a dietetic analysis completed in the 4 weeks prior to our assessment and for this information to be provided to us in advance of our multidisciplinary discussion. We can then arrange our feedback appointment.
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Please see information below for further information about dietetic input into our assessments.
4
Feedback
Our feedback appointments last up to 30 minutes and will take place via Microsoft Teams.
During this appointment we will share our formulation and recommendation to ensure they are clear and understood.
We will email a brief summary following this appointment. This includes the formulation, diagnosis where relevant, and any treatment recommendations such as any physical, nutritional and psychological aspects of care and treatment.
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Dietetic Analysis
This will need to be completed by a UK-based dietitian registered with the British Dietetic Association, who ideally has some experience of working with ARFID.
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We work closely with Clare Thornton-Wood, who is actively involved in the British Dietetic Association’s Special Interest Group for ARFID. This would be an additional cost of £100. However, we understand you may wish to find your own dietitian registered with the British Dietetic Association. Any dietetic input is charged separately to our fees.
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If receiving a dietetic analysis from Clare Thornton-Wood, we would facilitate this process by sharing your 3-day food diary and relevant information from clinical interview with your consent.
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