PIP Activity 1: Preparing Food - Complete Scoring Guide

Activity 1 covers preparing and cooking a simple one-course meal for one person using fresh ingredients. This is PIP2 Question 3. Many people score 0 on this activity because they write "I can make a sandwich" without understanding what the DWP actually means by "preparing food."

What Does "Simple Meal" Mean?

The PIP definition is specific: a simple meal means a cooked one-course meal for one person from fresh ingredients. Think of peeling and chopping vegetables, using a hob or oven, monitoring cooking temperatures and times. It does NOT mean making a sandwich, using a microwave, or heating a ready meal. If you can only manage a microwave meal, you cannot "prepare food" under the PIP definition.

The Descriptors and Points

a. Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided - 0 points. You can do the entire process independently without help, aids, or supervision.

b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to prepare or cook a simple meal - 2 points. You need a perching stool, adapted utensils, one-handed chopping board, easy-grip handles, or similar aids. If you use any of these, you score at least 2.

c. Cannot cook a simple meal using a conventional cooker but can using a microwave - 2 points. You can use a microwave but cannot safely use a hob or oven. Many people with pain, fatigue, or balance problems score here.

d. Needs prompting to prepare or cook a simple meal - 2 points. Someone needs to remind you to eat, remind you food is cooking, or encourage you to prepare food. Common with depression, ADHD, and cognitive conditions.

e. Needs supervision or assistance to prepare or cook a simple meal - 4 points. Someone needs to be present for safety while you cook, or physically help you (e.g. lifting pans, chopping). This is often the correct descriptor for people with seizures, severe pain, or balance problems.

f. Cannot prepare and cook food at all - 8 points. You are completely unable to prepare food and rely entirely on others.

How the Reliability Criteria Apply

Even if you CAN cook on your best day, consider:

• Safely - can you handle knives, hot pans, and boiling water without risk? If your hands shake, you get dizzy, or you have seizures, cooking is not safe.
• Repeatedly - could you cook breakfast AND lunch AND dinner? If cooking one meal exhausts you, you cannot do it repeatedly.
• Reasonable time - if a simple meal takes you over an hour instead of 30 minutes, this fails.
• Acceptable standard - if the food is consistently undercooked or overcooked because you cannot concentrate, this fails.

Failing ANY ONE of these means you should be scored as if you cannot do it at all.

Common Conditions That Affect This Activity

Chronic pain (cannot stand long enough), fatigue conditions like ME/CFS and fibromyalgia (too exhausted to cook), mental health conditions (no motivation, cannot concentrate), ADHD (forget food is cooking), epilepsy (seizure risk near hot surfaces), arthritis (cannot grip utensils), POTS/dizziness (unsafe standing at cooker), visual impairment (cannot see cooking progress).

What to Write on Your Form

Do NOT write: "I struggle with cooking sometimes."

DO write: "I cannot safely prepare a simple one-course meal from fresh ingredients. My [condition] causes [specific symptom] which means I cannot [specific task]. On [X] days per week, I am unable to cook at all and rely on [person/ready meals]. I use [aids] but even with these I cannot complete the task safely/repeatedly/in a reasonable time. I need [supervision/help] from [person] on most days."