How to Measure Medical Disability

Measurement of medical disability is used to determine eligibility for Social Security disability benefits, Medicaid and Medicare eligibility and approval for many social services, such as supported employment services, in-home health services and homemaker services.

Things You'll Need

• Medical records
• Employment history

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Instructions

• 1

  Obtain medical records, especially comprehensive assessments, to establish the severity of a medical disability. In some cases, a diagnosis is sufficient for obtaining access to certain entitlements and services. Individuals who are blind automatically qualify for Social Security disability benefits.

• 2

  Document the degree of difficulty that an individual has with daily living tasks, such as bathing and personal hygiene, cooking, money management, shopping for necessities and other skills necessary for maintaining independent living. The degree of difficulty that an individual has with these tasks because of his or her disability is a major component of determining eligibility for in-home health services, case management services and admission to assisted living or nursing home facilities.

• 3

  Obtain employment history before and after the individual became disabled. Note how the individual's ability to work changed after the development of the disability. Consider whether the individual is capable of performing other types of gainful employment if returning to previous types of employment is not possible.

• 4

  Obtain information regarding the expected duration and course of the disability. In some cases, such as end-stage kidney disease and blindness, the disability is expected to last for a lifetime without any significant improvement. Other conditions, such as depression, may improve over an individual's lifetime to the point where the individual no longer has significant impairment.

• 5

  Consider treatment options that may assist the individual with improving functioning despite having a medical disability. Antipsychotic medications can treat symptoms of severe Schizophrenia to the point where an individual is able to maintain employment and function independently in the community. Adaptive devices may be able to assist an individual with a physical disability complete tasks that would otherwise not be possible. Medical disability should be measured both with and without the adaptive device, medication(s) and other tangible items that aid the individual with daily tasks.