Personal Independence Payment (PIP) guide

Think about the following with regards to eating and drinking when filling in the form:

• do you have the full use of your hands?
• do you have a disability that makes it difficult for you to grip or do you have a sight impairment?
• are you able to use a knife and fork at the same time or do you have difficulty when trying to cut up food, for example, due to painful joints like arthritis?
• does somebody help at meal times or do you have adapted cutlery?
• do you sometimes spill food or drink when trying to put it into your mouth, because of difficulty lifting your arms or a disability?
• do you need to be told that you have left food on your face or clothes and do you need support with this?
• if you spill food or drink, do you need help to change your clothes?
• do you have difficulty in chewing and swallowing food or do you need help with a feeding tube or similar aid?
• do you need prompting or encouraging to eat or drink and why? Go into as much detail as possible
• do you have difficulty locating food on your plate?
• do you need supervising when you eat or are you at risk of choking when eating or drinking?