HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
GOOD HEALTH IS MORE THAN JUST THE BODY
Psychosocial Functional Capacity Assessment
A Psychosocial Functional Capacity Assessment is a type of Functional Capacity Assessment (sometimes just called ‘FCA’) designed to provide comprehensive information about an individual’s ability to perform certain tasks related to their daily living function. The ‘Psychosocial’ element aims to bring focus toward a person’s psychological and social abilities, such as capacity related to Communication and Socialisation domains. Although it may sound complex in phrasing, a Psychosocial FCA can be useful when communicating a comprehensive array of information, simply.
For example, the resulting report may include evidence for recommendations to be provided to the NDIA or provide information relevant to subsequent intervention for allied health professionals.
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Psychosocial FCA’s can make recommendations designed to improve the overall wellbeing of an individual. Recommendations are tailored to the individual, with the aim of empowering them and enhancing their ability to engage in their daily lives effectively. It can provide a baseline for professionals to engage in interventions with up-to-date information about an individual’s current level of functioning, particularly when a meaningful period of time or impactful life changes have occurred that may have resulted in changes to functional capacity.
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Psychosocial FCA’s are important in helping persons make informed decisions about the support they wish to receive in order to reach their goals.
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To summarise, a Psychosocial FCA is an important tool for allied health professionals to be able to provide informed support to an individual, and also has merit in some instances when applying for NDIS funding. These types of FCA can be great tools for in the process of helping people improve their quality of life and attaining a more fully functional life.
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Steps for a Psychosocial FCA
Think a Psychosocial FCA may be for you, your loved one, or your client?
These are the steps to engaging in Activ8 Mind’s Psychosocial FCA process.
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1. Speak with your Support Coordinator or other elected person who manages your NDIS plan about completing a referral with us. It is important to discuss at this step your reason(s) for wanting a Psychosocial FCA, e.g. What would you like to gain from the assessment? What is the purpose for you?
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2. Contact 8929 5300 or info@activ8group.com.au to begin the referral process. Our admin team can assist you through the initial steps of this process.
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3. Book an initial consultation with a practitioner. This may be a psychologist / provisional psychologist, social worker, or occupational therapist.
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4. Attend your initial consultation, which may be a 60 – 90 minute session. Our practitioners will help guide you through what to expect from the process, and gather some relevant information from you.
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5. Assessment. Our practitioners will engage with other relevant persons in your life, to gather observational and assessment information.
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6. Report. Our practitioners will write and provide a report for the psychosocial FCA, and provide to relevant persons, including a Support Coordinator, for example. You may also request a feedback appointment to discuss the report before it is finalised.
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