Title: Occupational Therapy functional assessments | Youth Living Skills
Headings: What is an Occupational Therapy functional assessment?
What is an Occupational Therapy functional assessment?
The Occupational Therapy (OT) functional assessment
Why would a person need an assessment?
What does the OT functional assessment involve?
What happens after the OT assessment is completed?

Content: Therapy may also incorporate a combination of both approaches and usually involves the key supports for the person (e.g. parents or teachers). Why would a person need an assessment? As OT functional assessments aim to determine an individual’s level of functioning, it is often indicated for purposes such as: – To get a general baseline about the person’s functioning in a wide variety of areas
– May help diagnostic clarification (but is not a diagnostic tool in itself)
– For accommodation placement purposes to determine the level of supports they may need
– To determine if the person needs specialized equipment or other assistive technologies and resources
– To guide future therapies and develop goals for the person
What does the OT functional assessment involve? The assessment is usually completed at the person’s residence (or hospital setting, if applicable) and can be as comprehensive as required. The person’s age needs to be taken into account and medical condition (s); i.e. meal preparation skills of a young child would generally not be appropriate for assessment. The initial step for the OT is usually to gain a medical and social history of the person before conducting the assessment, to better understand the purpose and context of the assessment. This includes learning about the person’s medical background, communication skills, home environment, work or education situation, what they do for recreation/leisure and interests, as well as their sleep/rest habits. Once this information has been collected, the assessment can usually proceed.