Attendance Allowance check → Attendance Allowance for arthritis and joint pain

Attendance Allowance for arthritis and joint pain

How arthritis, joint and back pain show up on the AA1: stiff mornings, buttons, the bath, stairs, falls and aids, and what to write for each.

Written and checked by the Attendance Allowance Check team at Virix Ltd. Last reviewed 25 September 2026 against gov.uk.

Arthritis rarely stops someone doing things altogether. More often it makes ordinary things slow, painful or unsafe: a morning that starts with twenty minutes of stiffness, buttons that fingers will not grip, a bath that is easy to get into and hard to get out of. Because people adapt quietly, they often describe themselves on the form as managing when in fact they are struggling, or going without. This guide covers osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, back problems and other joint conditions, and explains what to write on the AA1 so the real picture comes across. For the shorter overview, see our conditions page.

How joint problems fit the rules

Attendance Allowance is for people over State Pension age who need help with personal care, or need someone to keep an eye on them to stay safe, and have needed it for at least six months. It is not about the X-ray or the diagnosis. The decision maker asks which everyday bodily functions are affected, and whether the person reasonably needs another person’s help with them, how often and for how long. The eligibility check sets out the other conditions.

The DWP’s guidance for decision makers uses arthritis as one of its own examples. It notes that dressing and undressing can be a long, slow process, and that someone with severe arthritis may not have enough function in their hands to do up buttons. It is worth describing the hands in as much detail as the hips and knees.

One thing to know early: Attendance Allowance has no mobility part. Difficulty walking outside, to the shops or the bus stop, does not count on its own. Moving about inside your home, getting up from a chair, stairs and falls do.

Where the difficulty usually shows

Mornings and stiffness

Many people with arthritis are at their worst first thing. If you cannot get out of bed without help, need someone to help you sit up and swing your legs round, or need to wait before you can grip anything, that belongs at question 29 (getting in and out of bed). Say how long the stiffness lasts and what you cannot do until it eases.

Dressing: buttons, zips, socks and shoes

Buttons, bra fastenings, zips at the back, tights, socks and shoe laces are common problems, as is lifting arms over the head or bending to the feet. The AA1’s dressing question (32) asks about putting on and fastening clothes and footwear. Describe which items you need help with, who helps, and whether you now wear only clothes you can manage, which can be a sign of the difficulty rather than a solution to it.

Washing, the bath and the shower

Getting into and out of the bath, standing in the shower, washing feet and hair, and drying your back are common difficulties. If you have switched to a strip wash because you cannot use the bath safely, say so at question 31, along with how long washing takes and who helps.

The toilet

Getting on and off the toilet, wiping, and managing clothing can all be hard with painful hips, knees or hands. Describe the help you need at question 30, and whether you have had accidents because you could not get there or undress in time.

Stairs, chairs and moving about indoors

Question 33 covers moving about indoors, including stairs, and getting up from a chair. The guidance says that any suitable furniture or special aids a person has, such as a riser chair, should be considered. So say what you use and what is still hard.

Falls

Question 34 asks whether you fall or stumble, and gives stiff joints and a knee giving way as examples. It asks when you last fell, how many times in the last month, what happens, whether you can get up alone, and whether you have been referred to a falls clinic. The guidance separates falls caused by a disability from accidental falls that could happen to anyone, and asks whether falls are predictable and whether they could lead to serious harm. Give each fall with a rough date, where it was, how you got up and whether anyone had to help or call for help. Near misses count too.

Eating, drinking and medicines

Cutting up food, lifting a full kettle or cup, and opening tablet packets or eye drop bottles are common problems with hand arthritis. Cutting food belongs at question 35, and help with medicines, injections or creams at question 36. Cooking on its own is not counted for this benefit, but the eating and drinking are.

Good days and bad days

Arthritis often varies with the weather, with activity and with flare-ups. Question 38 asks how many days a week you have difficulty. Give an honest average, then describe what a bad day looks like and how often bad days come. The notes that come with the form suggest keeping a record over a good day and a bad day, from getting up to getting up the next morning.

Nights

Pain can make turning over, getting comfortable, or getting to the toilet at night difficult. If you need help to turn, to reposition pillows, or to get up and back to bed, that belongs in the night section. See our guide to night-time needs.

Aids and adaptations: what the decision maker may ask

Question 27 asks what aids or adaptations you use, whether a professional such as an occupational therapist prescribed them, what they help with, and what difficulty you still have with them. The form’s notes give examples such as a button hook, sock aid, long-handled shoehorn, raised toilet seat, rails, bath or shower seat, and stairlift.

This matters because the DWP’s guidance says an aid or practical solution may reduce or remove the need for help, and gives examples such as a commode downstairs instead of help on the stairs. But it also says the decision maker has to consider whether the aid is reasonable and practical for that person to get and use, and what the consequences would be. So:

• List what you have, honestly. Leaving aids out does not help, and a shower seat is not a sign you do not need help.
• Say what you still cannot do with it. “I have a sock aid but cannot grip the cords to pull it up.”
• Say if you tried something and it did not work. “A bath board was fitted but I cannot lift my legs over the side without my husband.”
• Say if you need help to use it. A hoist, stairlift or bath lift may still need someone with you.

What to write at the key questions

Illustrative examples

These are made-up examples to show the level of detail, not real people or wording to copy.

At question 32 (dressing): “My hands are too stiff in the morning to do buttons, a bra or shoe laces, and I cannot reach my feet because of my hips. My daughter helps me with my bra, tights and shoes every morning, which takes about 15 minutes, and again in the evening to undress. On bad days, about three a week, I cannot lift my arms to put a jumper on at all.”

At question 34 (falls): “My knee gives way without warning. I fell three times last month: twice in the kitchen and once getting out of the bath. The last time, I could not get up and lay on the floor for about an hour until my neighbour came.”

For more on phrasing, see our example answers and what not to write. Questions 28 to 41 are explained in detail in our daytime questions guide.

Getting the form, and free help

You can claim online, or download the AA1 from GOV.UK, fill it in on paper and send it by post; GOV.UK explains how to claim. In Scotland, Pension Age Disability Payment replaces Attendance Allowance. Versus Arthritis has information for people with arthritis and joint pain, and Age UK and Citizens Advice help with benefit forms free of charge where they can. Our guide to the whole AA1 covers the rest of the form.

Nothing on this page is medical advice, and we cannot say whether any claim will succeed; that is decided by the DWP.

If you would like a hand with it

We are a private company, Virix Ltd, not part of any government department. We go through the AA1 with you, or with the person you care for, over the telephone, write the answers up in your own words, then print the form and post it to you to read, sign and send. It costs £149, once. If the claim is refused, we help you ask for the decision to be looked at again at no extra cost, and if the answer is still no, we refund the full £149. Or you can choose to pay £249 only if the claim is awarded. Equally, the claim is free to make yourself, and Age UK and Citizens Advice help at no charge where they have capacity, as do some local services; Versus Arthritis also offer free information. How the options compare.