Applying all the reliability criteria

Application form

Rachael has a learning disability and ADHD.

She knows how to prepare and cook a simple meal and has the physical ability to do so.

As Rachael finds it difficult to foresee danger she’s prone to hurting herself in the kitchen by mishandling knives, not using oven gloves, and touching the cooker top. 

Rachel also finds it very challenging to wait for the full time it takes to cook food and so she often prepares food that’s undercooked. Her sister usually has to be in the kitchen when she’s cooking meals to make sure she does so safely and remind her to leave food to cook fully.

Case manager’s decision

The case manager needs to consider the descriptors while taking into account each of the reliability criteria to determine which describes Rachael’s ability to reliably prepare food.

Safely

The case manager determines that descriptor A is not appropriate as Rachael’s at risk of cutting or burning herself and so she cannot safely prepare and cook a simple meal unaided.

Descriptor B, descriptor C and descriptor D are also not suitable as they do not enable Rachael to complete the activity safely.

The support she has from her sister in order to ensure she cooks safely is however captured by descriptor E as Rachel reasonably requires the continuous presence of another person to manage the risk of her injuring herself during the activity. She requires this every time she performs the activity.

Descriptor F is not applicable because Rachael can undertake this activity with the right support.

To an acceptable standard

As Rachael is unlikely to allow food enough time to cook fully, she’s not able to prepare and cook a meal to an acceptable standard. Descriptor A is therefore not applicable to Rachael.  

Descriptors B and C are also not suitable as they would not enable Rachael to complete the task to an acceptable standard.

Rachel has described being reminded by her sister to make sure food is properly cooked. Descriptor D relates to a need for prompting, which is defined as “reminding, encouraging, or explaining”. This best describes how Rachel’s able to cook to an acceptable standard.

Neither descriptors E or F are appropriate to this criteria as she does not reasonably require supervision or assistance, nor is she unable to cook at all.

Repeatedly and in a reasonable time period

Both of the remaining criteria – repeatedly and in a reasonable time period – are satisfied for all descriptors as Rachael has not indicated any difficulties with cooking as often as she needs to, and does not take an unreasonably long time to cook.

Whilst Rachel would perform descriptor D ‘to an acceptable standard’, within a reasonable time period and repeatedly, the case manager has identified that she can only perform the activity ‘safely’ in terms of descriptor E. As a result Descriptor E is the one that applies to Rachel to be able to perform the activity in line with all of the reliability criteria.

Application form

Tanner has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and is able to walk using crutches.

They walk at a slightly slower pace than average and experience mild discomfort walking up to around 60 metres. After this distance their hips start to become increasingly painful which causes them to walk more slowly.

Tanner can continue to walk until around 100 metres, at which point they need to stop and rest.

This takes a lot out of them and for a few hours after they can only take a few steps without experiencing severe hip pain.

It takes Tanner between 1 and 2 minutes to walk 60 metres the first time.

Case manager’s decision

The case manager needs to consider the descriptors while taking into account each of the reliability criteria to determine which describes Tanner’s ability to reliably move around.

Safely

Tanner experiences pain but knows when to stop and rest, and they do not indicate any ongoing harm after having recovered from the exertion.

This criteria does not need to be considered further for this activity.

To an acceptable standard

For the first 60 metres Tanner describes being able to walk using an aid with only mild discomfort.

However, any further than 60 metres and they start to be in pain which is exacerbated by continuing to walk. Once Tanner is using an aid while experiencing pain which is increasing in severity, they’re no longer able to complete the activity to an acceptable standard.

The case manager determines that the acceptable standard criteria is not satisfied for descriptor A and goes onto consider the remaining descriptors.

Tanner can walk up to 60 metres with an aid to an acceptable standard and so descriptor B is applicable, Descriptor C does not apply to Tanner because they are not able to walk unaided. The remaining descriptors are not applicable to Tanner due to the distance they can walk.

Repeatedly

The case manager has decided that Tanner can walk 60 metres to an acceptable standard and so this is the distance which should be considered in relation to the ‘repeatedly’ criteria also. Tanner explains that after walking up to 100 metres they need to rest for hours before being able to walk more than a few steps. This means that the furthest Tanner can walk repeatedly, without having to rest, is 50 metres.

Although they could walk further after resting for a number of hours, this would not satisfy the ‘repeatedly’ criteria as it would not enable them to walk that distance as often as is reasonably required.

It’s reasonable to expect an individual to be required to walk 60 metres twice without having to rest for hours in between. The case manager decides that descriptor D accurately reflects the distance Tanner can walk repeatedly – between 20 metres but no more than 50 metres.

Reasonable time period

Although Tanner describes walking at a slower than average pace, it’s still within what is deemed to be reasonable and so the case manager determines they can complete the activity in a reasonable time period.

The descriptor which describes how Tanner moves around when meeting all of the reliability criteria is therefore descriptor D.