Occupational therapy and physical disability
Equipment, access and daily function: what an OT assesses and how the evidence supports a funding request.
With a physical disability the barrier is often the environment rather than the person, and an occupational therapy assessment spends as much time measuring the house as it does assessing the person in it.
The two halves
The person
Strength, range, endurance, posture, pressure risk, transfers, and how each of those holds up across a whole day rather than in a single attempt.
The environment
Doorway widths, turning circles, thresholds, bathroom layout, driveway gradients, where equipment is stored and charged. Equipment that suits the person but not the house comes straight back.
What it leads to
- Wheelchair assessments, including fully scripted custom builds
- Seating and pressure care
- Scooter and gopher assessments
- home modifications: rails, ramps, thresholds, bathroom access
The evidence for all of it is usually a functional capacity assessment.
Common questions
Do I have to buy equipment before trying it?
No. Trials are part of the assessment, and running them in your own home and neighbourhood is the point of them.
Why does the therapist measure the house?
Because equipment that suits the person but not the doorways comes straight back. The measurements are part of the prescription.
Related
- Psychosocial & mental health What OT assessment covers when the barrier is psychosocial: daily routine, participation, and evidencing variable capacity.
- Chronic health conditions Pain, fatigue and endurance: how an OT assessment captures what a day actually costs.
- Intellectual disability Independence, safety and support levels: what OT assesses and how the person is kept at the centre of it.