Latvia to test disability assessments focused on daily functioning

Latvia’s government has backed a Welfare Ministry plan to improve how disability is assessed for adults, with functional abilities set to carry more weight than diagnoses from 2030, LSM reported.

The government had postponed the issue twice before approving the plan on Tuesday.

The ministry’s report says disability assessments are currently conducted by the State Medical Commission for the Assessment of Health and Working Ability. The commission considers both a person’s diagnosis and how their health problems affect their ability to manage everyday life.

The commission receives about 70,000 applications for disability assessments each year. Only 1% of assessments are conducted in person, while most are based on reviewing documents and generally do not include a face-to-face meeting.

The ministry says this approach is not sufficient to accurately assess the severity of a person’s functional limitations, despite Latvia using criteria established by the World Health Organization.

Under the planned changes, a self-assessment questionnaire completed by the individual would be replaced with a World Health Organization assessment tool. A trained specialist would complete the tool by interviewing and assessing the person in person.

The assessment would cover abilities including mobility, self-care, communication, carrying out household and work duties, and participation in society. It would consider difficulties the person had experienced in everyday activities during the previous 30 days.

The Welfare Ministry plans to launch a pilot project this year to determine whether the new approach is suitable. The project is expected to run until the middle of next year and will test the new assessment tools in about 880 cases.