The Impact of Fluctuating Health Conditions on Assessment
This report details the findings of research into fluctuating health conditions and their impact on the disability community and on the assessment process.
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Research background
This report was commissioned as part of research and evaluation activities to develop a robust evidence base to inform the development and delivery of the Department’s policy initiatives, Health Transformation Programme, and The Health and Disability White Paper proposals.
Contribution to the evidence base
This report provides an in-depth description of how and why health conditions fluctuate. It provides evidence on and supports the design of a process that aims to better consider, understand and meets the needs of claimants with conditions that fluctuate over time.
The report builds an evidence base on fluctuating health conditions and their impacts on the disability community and individuals experiences of the Departments health and disability support application and assessment processes.
Research value
The Department will use these findings, alongside insights from the wider research strategy to develop, test, and deliver on the aims of the Department’s policy initiatives, the Health Transformation Programme, and The Health and Disability White Paper proposals.
At the time this report was was produced, one of the White Paper initiatives it refers to was known as “Specialist Assessors”. Given the term “specialist” has a very specific meaning in a medical context, the decision has been made to change the name of the initiative to “Condition Focused Assessors” to avoid misalignment with clinical definitions. The ambition and testing plans for this initiative remain the same.