Individual Occupational Therapy supports
When I was running a group OT private practice, one of the daily frustrations I felt was with the forever long waiting list for OT supports. I felt really guilty when participants were waiting for Functional Capacity Assessments to obtain, maintain or regain funding through their NDIS plan and yet they were in waiting-land, until an Occupational Therapist could complete the relevant assessments that the NDIA requested. Likewise, with the process of obtaining specialist housing, I hated the knowledge that a participant's journey to obtaining the accommodation and supports that they or their support network felt that they needed to live their best life, was made longer by our waiting list.
I therefore decided to focus my Occupational Therapy intervention on helping participants to obtain funding through NDIS to shorten their journey to having the means to meet their individual goals. I then found that when I was recommending ongoing Occupational Therapy intervention through the Functional Capacity Assessments, there were limited OTs to refer to, so we had an amazing Therapy Assistant join our team. This gives individuals a wonderful opportunity to grow their everyday skills.
As my love for supporting people with severe and profound developmental and physical disabilities still exists, I also continue to support participants who reside in Specialist Disability Accommodation. This mainly consists of complex assistive technology assessment and recommendation, manual handling consultations and through sensory assessments and interventions.
Functional Capacity Assessments
What is a Functional Capacity Assessment?
Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) can be a vital tool in assisting the National Disability Agency (NDIA) to determine what supports and how much funding is included in a participant’s plan, based on the NDIA's reasonable and necessary criteria. A clear, detailed FCA can make the difference between an insufficient plan and a suitable plan, therefore seeking someone with experience and proven success in obtaining optimal funding is required, when writing FCAs.
My perspective
I love finding out about people's lives, developing an understanding about their views on life and finding out how much support a participant has or would benefit from to live their best life. I do this through conducting a detailed initial assessment and utilising my clinical reasoning skills to assist me to write a detailed, evidence-based FCA to best support each participant.
Housing and Support Assessments
What is a Supported Independent Living Assessment?
Supported Independent Living (SIL) assessments are sometimes requested by the NDIS to help determine the level of support someone with high support needs requires. To be eligible for Supported Independent Living (SIL), an individual needs to require active disability support for more than 8 hours per day to complete daily activities and some level of support for the other hours, such as overnight support. To determine this, NDIA may request a SIL assessment.
SIL assessments involve the OT providing a comprehensive assessment of an individual’s functional status and the amount or types of supports required to maintain and increase their participation in everyday tasks.
What is a Specialist Disability Accommodation Assessment?
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) refers to accommodation for participants who require specialist housing solutions to assist with the delivery of their supports. SDA assessments involve a comprehensive assessment of an individual’s needs, both current and future and the OT is required to prove the participant’s eligibility against the SDA criteria.
In some cases, the NDIA may request a SIL/SDA Assessment, and other times it may only be one or the other.
My perspective
It takes a lot of time to develop a really good understanding about the participant so that decisions can be made regarding their housing and support requirements, then prove to the NDIA that the recommendations are reasonable and necessary. To do this, I will complete the same initial assessment as with the Functional Capacity Assessment and justify the recommendations using the assessment results. These reports are really long, but it is such a privilege to have a person share all aspects of their life with me, while building a strong relationship through this process.
Sensory Assessment
What is Sensory Processing?
Sensory processing involves the way that the brain interprets the sensory information that is provided by the senses. The brain processes sensory information differently and some people are more or less sensitive to certain stimuli. If an individual has difficulty handling certain stimuli or if they seek out additional stimuli, they may struggle to complete daily tasks that don’t meet their sensory preferences. By gaining a better understanding into the way that someone processes information, we can support them to use their sensory preferences to match the level of arousal that is required for different tasks in daily activities.
A Sensory assessment involves the evaluation of a persons’ sensory processing patterns. These assessments can be carried out for people at any age and can provide useful strategies to assist with lowering anxiety, increasing enjoyment in daily activities and reducing behaviours of concern.
Following an assessment, strategies are recommended that are in line with the participant's sensory preferences. These strategies are individualised to each person’s processing needs in their environments in which they live.
My perspective
As neurotypical adults, people alter their behaviour by changing their sensory input automatically, such as swinging on an office chair, crossing our arms or playing loud music. But if an individual has difficulty processing sensory input, too much or too little sensory stimuli can be incredibly disruptive. I love seeing a participant reach a level of peace when they are well regulated through sensory strategies that calm or alert the sensory system. A sensory assessment can determine an individual's sensory preferences so that these preferences can be utilised to modify behaviour in a positive way.
Complex Assistive Technology Prescription
What is Assistive Technology?
Assistive Technology is a term commonly used to refer to a device (piece of equipment) or system which allows a person to perform a task more independently or safely.
Equipment assessments involve an evaluation of the participant’s individual needs. Equipment is then recommended that will increase the participant’s function or safety.
My perspective
I have a vast range of experience assessing, recommending and applying for complex assistive technology (AT) to support an individual to participate in the tasks that are important to them. The complex AT that I have extensive experience in and enjoy recommending include:
- Complex manual or powered wheelchairs
- Mobility scooters
- AT to reduce the risk of pressure injuries
- Hoists and slings
- Beds, mattresses and sleeping systems
- Alternative seating options
I also have a special interest in working with people with complex seating and positioning to remediate or compensate for a person’s asymmetrical posture, to achieve the most functional position possible for them.
Manual Handling
People with high physical needs can provide increased manual handling risks for support workers. To ensure that the safest manual handing movements are being utilised to protect the staff and the supported person, it is recommended that each person has a specific assessment completed and a Safe Working Procedure (SWP) developed for each manual handling task.
My perspective
Having supported people with high physical support needs as a live-in carer while managing chronic pain, I understand first hand how important it is to look after your body when engaging in person-moving tasks. I have been completing manual handling assessments and developing SWPs for people with high physical support needs for 9 years. Over this time I have developed a thorough manual handling assessment and a clear and easy-to-follow recommendation process.
Residential Aged Care
I can also provide Occupational Therapy intervention and recommendation for older people who live in a Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF). Insightful Occupational Therapy can provide urgent OT supports to older people in a RACF who have had a change in circumstances in their level of ability. We can then develop a team approach to determine the best way to support the person moving forward.
“I think every person has their own identity and beauty. Everyone being different is what is really beautiful. If we were all the same, it would be boring.” – Tila Tequila
