Help in Completing the Attendance Allowance Form

MrBear
MrBear Community Member Posts: 2 Listener
in PIP, DLA, ADP & AA

Hello, I am helping someone to complete an Attendance Allowance form but find some questions rather confusing and have some questions and would be grateful for any advice.

First, Qs 25 and 26 ask whether the toilet and bedroom are upstairs or downstairs. The person lives in a flat which is on the third floor but is itself all on one floor so there is no upstairs or downstairs. What should we put here?

Secondly, Q31 ask about difficulties in looking after your personal appearance. I'm not sure what they are talking about here as there are separate questions about washing, bathing, and dressing.

As I said, any advice on these would be appreciated.

Comments

  • luvpink
    luvpink Community Member Posts: 5,265 Championing

    @MrBear

    Hi welcome to the community.

    You would need to state that the person lives in a flat so the bedroom and the bathroom are on one level within the flat and there are no stairs.

    They may question how the person manages to get up and down the stairs leading to the flat if no lift is available.

    Regarding personal hygiene and difficulties looking after personal appearance you would need to explain what difficulties may be experienced such as, how would the person manage if they didn't receive support to fulfill these tasks such as fatigue, shortness of breath, pain, reduced grip or lack of motivation that would require prompting.

    Without prompting the person may not have the physical or mental capacity to be independent and this could lead to self neglect.

    State whether the person would need to wear loose clothing with no zips or buttons if they have difficulty with that.

    Would the person neglect themselves if they weren't prompted or receive assistance.

    The questions can overlap and you may have to cross reference the answers.

    I would recommend enlisting the help of Citizens Advice or another free advocacy service.

  • MrBear
    MrBear Community Member Posts: 2 Listener

    Thank you. The person used to be abl to manage the stairs with difficulty and with assistance but has been flatbound for several months.

  • luvpink
    luvpink Community Member Posts: 5,265 Championing
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1140490#Comment_1140490

    They may want to know how the person would attend hospital appointments etc so be prepared to state what help is needed and how does the person mobilise in the flat, ie do they use aids, can they only do it with assistance.

    Are they able to raise from a chair or a bed independently, do they rely on aids such as a walking frame.

    How would they manage to get up if they have a fall.

    Do they rely on grab rails or have a raised toilet seat, a perching stool etc.

    These are a few examples.

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