I'll start with the disability award. That is a payment that can be made to compensate someone for illness or injury, and I guess it would be types of injury that we see in the military. It's any amount. It's hard to say whether it's enough.
But what happens is that they make an application for a disability award and the determination of level of disability is made by Veterans Affairs Canada based on objective medical evidence that's provided by medical practitioners who do examinations and record information such as range of motion, functional limitations, and x-ray reports. We have a table of disabilities, which is a regulatory instrument that defines various assessment levels and how that relates to functional incapacity.
That is how the percentage level is determined, and it is done by Veterans Affairs Canada adjucators. Subsequent to that, while the member is still serving, he might well have received a disability award. He continues to be under the care of the Canadian Forces health services unit, and at some point it will be up to the medical folks and others within the Canadian Forces environment to decide if the member is going to be medically released.
Up until that point, the Canadian Forces have responsibility for the healthcare of that injured member. Once the member is going to be medically released and a decision has been made on that, VAC will start working with them. We begin to make plans in terms of the rehabilitation using a variety of experts, medical doctors, vocational experts--where that's appropriate--occupational therapists, and mental health specialists. It's an interdisciplinary kind of approach to identify problems and barriers to them achieving independence. They could be medical, they could be psycho-social. A plan is developed and that's carried into the post-release period.
The plan continues to change based on the goals and how the veteran progresses and how the family progresses. Input is received on an ongoing basis from a variety of health professionals in the field, and best practice evidence tells us that an approach that is multi-disciplinary, that involves multiple health professionals accompanied by intensive case management, produces the best results.