Citation Nr: 19106980 Decision Date: 01/29/19 Archive Date: 01/29/19 DOCKET NO. 15-10 523 DATE: January 29, 2019 REMANDED Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from November 1942 to February 1946. He died in November 2012. The appellant is his surviving spouse. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2014 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In August 2018, a videoconference hearing was held before the undersigned; a transcript is in the record. Entitlement to SMC based on the need for aid and attendance is remanded. To receive SMC based on the need for aid and attendance, the appellant must be a patient in a nursing home on account of mental or physical incapacity; or be blind or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity in both eyes of 5/200 or less or concentric contraction of the visual field to five degrees or less; or have a factual need for regular aid and attendance of another person. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1114(l), 1502, 1521; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.350(b)(3), 3.351(b). Factors considered to determine whether regular aid and attendance is needed include: inability to dress or undress oneself, or to keep oneself ordinarily clean and presentable; frequent need to adjust special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances which by reason of the particular disability requires aid (this does not include adjustment of appliances that persons without any such disability would be unable to adjust without aid, such as supports, belts, lacing at the back, etc.); inability to feed oneself through loss of coordination of upper extremities or through extreme weakness; inability to attend to wants of nature; or incapacity, physical or mental, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to protect a claimant from the hazards or dangers incident to her daily environment. 38 C.F.R. § 3.352(a). The evidence of record does not seem to indicate that the appellant meets the factual need for regular aid and attendance of another person. However, the Board finds that a new VA aid and attendance examination is necessary to determine whether she meets the requirement for aid and attendance based on her vision. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Schedule the appellant for an appropriate VA aid and attendance examination to determine whether she is blind or so nearly blind as to have corrected visual acuity of 5/200 or less in both eyes, OR concentric contraction of the visual field to 5 degrees or less. [CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE] A detailed explanation (rationale) is requested for all opinions provided. By law, the Board is not permitted to rely on any conclusion that is not supported by a thorough explanation. Providing an opinion or conclusion without a thorough explanation will delay processing of the claim and may also result in a clarification being requested. VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD T. Matta, Counsel