NDIS Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapists are allied health professionals who enable people to engage in the occupations that bring meaning and a sense of purpose to their lives. Occupational Therapists work with participants to enhance their ability to engage in the occupations they want, including by modifying the occupation or the environment to better enable the participant to engage in the occupation.
At Connect Support Group
Our Occupational Therapists will work with you and those close to you to maximise your independence, to help you live the life that you want. You may be looking to enhance your ability to perform tasks in your home, to access the community, make modifications to your home for your disability, or finding out about assistive technology that could help you. Whatever you need, our Occupational Therapists will assess and understand your situation, providing a personalised service to help you do the things you want and need to do, in the most effective way possible. We offer home visits as well as clinic-based support.
What can our Occupational Therapists do for you?
- Functional Capacity Assessments
- Psychosocial Functional Capacity Assessments
- Supported Disability Accommodation Assessments (SIA)
- Supported Independent Living Assessments (SIL)
- Assistive Technology Assessments for specialised equipment prescription
- Specialised seating and wheelchair prescription
- Scooter and mobility assessment and training
- Shower chairs and commode chairs assessments
- Hoist and Sling Assessments
- Manual Handling training and education
- Pressure care education and therapy
- Therapy and rehabilitation
- Home rehabilitation and therapy
- Stroke and neurological rehabilitation
- Cognitive Assessment and retraining
- Developmental Therapy
- Falls Prevention
- Home modifications (Ramps, Grab Rails, Bathroom and kitchen modifications)
Frequently Asked Questions
NDIS Occupational Therapy refers to Occupational Therapy services that are funded through a participant’s NDIS plan. Occupational Therapy is a type of allied health that helps the individual participate in activities and tasks that they want to participate in, despite any physical, cognitive or emotional challenges they may have.
An Occupational Therapist can help people with a disability to develop or maintain their independence, improve their daily living skills, enhance social and communication skills, and achieve their goals. The Occupational Therapist assesses the person’s needs, develops a personalised therapy plan suited to that person, and provides interventions and strategies to assist the person in achieving their goals.
A NDIS functional capacity assessment is an evaluation used to determine a person’s level of functioning in different areas of their daily living. The purpose of completing this assessment is to gather information around the person’s abilities, support needs, limitations, in order to tell the NDIA about the types of support and services that the person needs. NDIA use this information when putting together a NDIS plan.
During the assessment, the Occupational Therapist will take note of the person’s ability to perform various tasks and activities, ask questions about their health and wellbeing, and gather information from family and carers. The information gathered from this assessment will be used to develop a detailed report that outlines the person’s functional abilities and limitations, including their goals and what they hope to achieve.
Although there may be some overlap between the two professions, the two have distinct differences in their focus and goals:
Occupational Therapy focuses on supporting individuals to achieve their goals and engage in meaningful activities that they would like to participate in, despite physical, cognitive or emotional challenges. Using a holistic approach, the needs of the individual are assessed and interventions and strategies are provided, with the goal of helping the individual to overcome challenges they face due to their disability, to engage in the activities they want to engage in.
Physiotherapy focuses on the physical rehabilitation and management of muscoskeletal and neurological conditions. This may involve restoring movement, reducing pain, providing exercises to improve flexibility and strength and preventing further injury. A range of different physical therapies are used to achieve these outcomes.
When working with an Occupational Therapist, they will discuss with you your current limitations, what your goals are and what motivates you, and what strategies or interventions can be implemented to help you achieve them. Assessments may be used at different times to see what activities you can do, and what activities you want to do.