What assessments can we do?

At SSWCS we can provide many different types of assessments, these can be a singular assessment or as aparrt of a Functional Capacity Assessment.

Please see the list below of the assessments we can support with.

Functional Capacity Assessments

SSWCS can provide Functional Capacity Assessment services by a social worker for children and adults online through telehealth Australia wide or in person in Adelaide for NDIS participants who are self or plan managed.

Social Workers can write Functional Capacity Assessments for those who have psychosocial disabilities, 'other disabilities', and also dependent on extra background/experience for other disabilities. What you want to make sure when getting a Functional Capacity Assessment is that the practitioner is specialised in the area of disability and understands it to be able to assess it.

What is a Functional Capacity Assessment for/used for?

A functional capacity assessment is a whole bunch of questions/information that is gathered by a practitioner to further understand your support needs. We ask questions around what you do in your everyday life, how you do it, how you move around and things you find really hard, or things that are a strength! Your physical, cognitive and emotional capabilities and how you perform your everyday living skills in the home, at work and in the community. We make sure that we gather all the necessary information for a detailed report. This information and assessment results are used to create a report which develops interventions and support plans tailored to your specific needs. This report is sent to the NDIS, to inform them of your functional capacity, support needs and recommendations from the practitioner to suggest to the NDIS to inform the NDIS planner when they build your NDIS plan.

A Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) is a comprehensive evaluation that assesses an individual’s ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs). It encompasses a thorough examination of physical, cognitive, and emotional strengths and limitations to provide a holistic understanding of an individual’s functional capabilities. This information is then used to develop interventions and support plans tailored to an individual’s specific needs to help improve their functional capacity and ability to achieve their goals.

What happens in a Functional Capacity Assessment appointment?

Once we receive your referral will contact you or your representative to organise an initial appointment. We are happy to have two sessions if needed, sometimes assessments can be overwhelming and we understand this. We will talk to you and/or your representative about your needs around this.

We will tailor your appointment to you. Whether it is in person or telehealth, we will make sure you understand what the session/s entail and if there's anything you need to prepare for.

If it is an in person session, we will book you into our system for the appointment and you will receive a reminder the day before the appointment, and we will arrive at your home or another desired location to meet. We will ask questions of your everyday living and what you do, to gather information to write a report. We will also get you to complete some questionnaires, this can be with us to help you with them, or we can send them for you to complete in your own time online through your email address, or to your representative. Once again you may need 1-2 sessions. We are happy to work with your needs. We also are happy to meet if needed to go through a draft. We hope to get as much accurate information as possible but are always open to suggestions/edits to the report as a whole as the report reflects your life.

If it is a telehealth session, we will book you into our system and send through a telehealth link to yours or your representative's email address for the appointment and you will receive a reminder the day before the appointment. We will ask questions of your everyday living and what you do, to gather information to write a report. We will also get you to complete some questionnaires, this can be with us to help you with them, or we can send them for you to complete in your own time online through your email address, or to your representative. Once again you may need 1-2 sessions. We are happy to work with your needs. We also are happy to meet if needed to go through a draft. We hope to get as much accurate information as possible but are always open to suggestions/edits to the report as a whole as the report reflects your life.

If an online appointment and we need to have your housing environment details to input into the report we will request for some photos or videos to be taken as needed and send through to inform the report. We will speak to anyone in your care team with consent if needed to add to the report, and also any other previous reports can be helpful to support the information gathering!

We do not charge for edits.

How can I book in for a Functional Capacity Assessment appointment?

To refer yourself or have a representative refer you to us for a Functional Capacity Assessment appointment click the button below and someone will be in contact with you to organise your sessions.

ABAS - 3
The Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System, Third Edition (ABAS-III) is a multidimensional and standardised assessment tool used to assess the functional skills necessary for the daily living of individuals from birth to 89 years of age.

Assess adaptive skills
Assist in diagnosing and classifying various developmental, learning, and behavioural disabilities and disorders
Identify strengths and weaknesses
Develop treatment plans and training goals
Document and monitor progress over time
Determine eligibility for services such as disability pension, and evaluate capacity to live or work independently
Facilitate research and program evaluation

Sensory Profile

The Sensory Profile is used to characterise children, adolescents or adults by their responsiveness to sensory input, sensory seeking, emotional reactive, low endurance/tone, oral sensory sensitivity, inattention/distractibility, poor registration, sensory sensitivity, sedentary, and fine motor/perceptual.

It can provide guidelines and strategies as to what may be needed to support the individual's sensory needs.

WHODAS 2.0

WHODAS 2.0 captures the level of functioning in six domains of life:

Cognition – understanding and communicating
Mobility – moving and getting around
Self-care – attending to one’s hygiene, dressing, eating and staying alone
Getting along – interacting with other people
Life activities – domestic responsibilities, leisure, work and school
Participation – joining in community activities, participating in society.

WHODAS 2.0 provides a common metric of the impact of any health condition in terms of functioning. Being a generic measure, the instrument does not target a specific disease – it can thus be used to compare disability due to different diseases. WHODAS 2.0 also makes it possible to design and monitor the impact of health and health-related interventions. The instrument has proven useful for assessing health and disability levels in the general population and in specific groups (e.g. people with a range of different mental and physical conditions). Furthermore, WHODAS 2.0 makes it easier to design health and health related interventions, and to monitor their impact.

PEDI-CAT

The PEDI-CAT measures function in four domains in children from ages 0-6 - (1) Daily Activities; (2) Mobility; (3) Social / Cognitive, and (4) Responsibility. The PEDI-CAT items were selected based on their relevance for children’s engagement in daily life tasks. This feature of the PEDI-CAT will enable clinicians to construct a description of a child’s current functional status or progress in acquiring functional skills that are part of everyday life. The PEDI-CAT combines elements of adaptive behavior measures used in early intervention, developmental disabilities and special education programs with functional assessments used in paediatric rehabilitation.

Vineland Assessment

The Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales, Third Edition (Vineland-3) is the leading instrument for supporting the diagnosis of intellectual and developmental disabilities such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The Vineland-3 is used with people aged 0 to 90 years to measure a range of functional domains and subdomains. The results provide valuable information for developing educational and treatment plans and to monitor and measure growth over time.

Skills assessed with Vineland-3

Communication: receptive, expressive and written communication skills
Daily living: personal (hygiene and dressing), domestic, numeric (using numerical concepts in practical ways), community (functioning in the world outside the home) and school community
Socialisation: interpersonal relationships (caring, conversation and friendship), play and leisure, coping skills
Motor Skills*: gross and fine motor skills
Maladaptive behaviour*: undesirable and atypical behaviours that interfere with adaptive functioning, such as internalising (anxiety and depression), externalising (hyperactivity and disruptive behaviour) and critical items (self-injury, aggression and suicidality).

Scales/smaller assessments
Carer Burdon Scale
DASS
GAD-7
Quality of life

Letters of support/Reports

Holistic report - all of your reports for your review, RORD or COC put into one summary document
Housing SA letter of support
Companion Card & letter of support
Disability Support Pension support & letter of support
Functional Capacity Assessment Report for Psychosocial and 'Other disabilities', autism and other disabilities dependent on experience in that area of disability
Disability Parking Pass support

To refer or self-refer for our services make contact with SSWCS below, by phone, send through an enquiry, download a referral form below or email to contactus@sswcsadelaide.com

Click here to make a referral