Eating and drinking equipment

If you find it difficult to drink or to prepare and eat meals, it's worth considering specialist items that could help.

Parkinson’s symptoms can make eating, drinking or preparing meals more difficult. Specialist equipment may help you get enough to eat and drink and enjoy your meals.  

Specially designed cutlery

If you have reduced grip, muscle weakness or a tremor, it can be difficult to handle cutlery. Several specially designed styles are available, including:

  • an all-in-one knife and fork or fork and spoon
  • extra large, easy-grip handles (made of moulded rubber), extra-light, weighted or curved foam sleeves, which can be placed over existing cutlery handles to make them easier to hold
  • cutlery which can be bent to suit different grips
  • self-levelling spoons. These are spoons that have a weight on one end, which helps balance the food on the other end. This helps to keep food on your spoon if you have a tremor. 

If you have stiff muscles, extra large or curved-handled cutlery may work best for you. 

If you have a tremor, a combined fork and spoon could be easier to use and quicker to clean than separate utensils. 

You can buy specially designed cutlery in high street mobility shops.

Food preparation knives

A knife with a curved-handle can help you chop food if you have difficulty gripping things.

A rocking action knife, also called a rocker knife, can be easier to grip and use too. Rocker knives come with curved blades that let you chop your food by making a rocking motion.

The handles of these types of knives are usually made from easy-grip material and are D or L-shaped to help give you more control.

Plate guards

You can clip a plate guard onto your plate, providing an upright ring around the edge to stop food from falling off.

You can also push your food up against the guard to get it onto your fork or spoon.

Insulated plates, bowls and cups

Insulated dishes or mugs can help keep your food hot or cold.

This can be helpful if you need more time to eat or drink. They are often weighted, which keeps them stable as you eat or drink.

Non-slip mats

These mats can be placed under plates or bowls to stop them moving around. This can be especially useful if you find yourself chasing your plate across the table.

Non-slip mats can be used:

  • on a tray to stop cups sliding during carrying
  • between a mixing bowl and a work surface to stop the bowl moving.

You can buy mats in a variety of sizes, or you can buy the material by the metre and cut it to the size you need.

Sip and nosey cups

If you have a tremor, using a sip or sports cup with a lid can help stop liquids spilling. There are also cups with a rotatable handle that can help.

Some people use a hydration system that connects a bottle of drink by a short narrow hose (sometimes used by cyclists) so you can take sips easily.

Nosey cups have a section cut out opposite where you drink from that allows the person drinking to tilt and drain the cup more easily.

These cups are usually made of plastic so are only suitable for cold drinks. There are also oval-shaped cups available that are designed to give sufficient nose clearance, and these are suitable for hot drinks.

A speech and language therapist can recommend you a cup.

Kettle tippers

These let you pour boiling water out of your kettle without lifting it up. This reduces the risk of spills and burns.

Check your kettle will fit the tipper before buying one.

Boiling water dispensers or built-in taps

Water dispensers are used to fill up a cup or mug with boiling water without needing to use a kettle or saucepan. 

They are easy to use, but must be filled by hand. They can only supply small amounts of boiling liquid at a time.

Built-in hot water taps can supply larger quantities of boiling water, without having to refill a dispenser. They can be expensive and need to be installed and connected to a water supply.

Read our information on eating, swallowing and managing saliva in Parkinson’s.

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Thank you

Thank you to the following experts who contributed to or reviewed this information:

  • Rebecca Boddington, Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist

  • Lauren Drake, Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist, MY Therapy service, Mid Yorkshire Teaching Trust

  • Rachael Stringer, Occupational Therapist, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust

Thanks also to everyone living with or supporting someone with Parkinson's who provided feedback or helped produce this information.

Last updated

This content will next be reviewed within 3 years of that date. If you'd like to find out more about how we put our information together, including references and the sources of evidence we use, please contact us at [email protected]