Occupational Therapy | Healing Pathways NT
Understand your everyday abilities. Make your support needs clear.
Healing Pathways NT provides Occupational Therapy Functional Capacity Assessments (FCAs) for children, adolescents and adults in Darwin and Palmerston. We assess how disability affects everyday activities and prepare evidence-based reports explaining your functional abilities, support needs and recommendations for NDIS consideration.
Your assessment brings together your goals, daily routines, clinical observations, appropriate assessment tools and information from the people you choose to involve. We explain what you can do independently, where assistance is required and why each recommended support is relevant.
A Functional Capacity Assessment is a structured assessment of how a person manages everyday life. An occupational therapist considers the relationship between your abilities, the activities you need or want to do, and the environments where those activities happen.
An NDIS FCA goes beyond listing a diagnosis. It describes the practical impact of disability on daily functioning and the support required for particular tasks. This includes recognising your strengths, existing strategies and the assistance that already makes activities possible.
The assessment is not a pass-or-fail test. Its purpose is to build an accurate picture of your daily life and provide clear functional evidence for support planning.
Our assessment approach is guided by your age, disability-related needs, goals and the reason for the referral.
We discuss your routines, priorities, current supports and the activities that are difficult. With your consent, we gather relevant information from family members, carers, support workers, teachers and treating professionals.
We observe relevant everyday activities and consider how the environment affects your performance. This includes the assistance, equipment, communication strategies and adjustments you use. Home or community observations are arranged where relevant to the assessment.
We use appropriate standardised assessments alongside clinical observations, interviews and existing reports. Assessment tools are selected for the individual and interpreted in context, rather than treating a score as a complete description of a person’s needs.
Understanding information, expressing needs and using your preferred communication methods during everyday activities and interactions.
Participating in relationships, play, recreation and group activities, including the support and environmental adjustments that make participation possible.
Learning and applying everyday skills, remembering information, following steps and using skills across different routines and settings.
Moving around the home and community, changing position, transferring between surfaces and using equipment or assistance for movement.
Managing personal routines such as showering, dressing, grooming, eating and toileting, including the preparation and assistance involved.
Organising daily life, making decisions, managing time and money, following medication routines and recognising everyday risks.
Across relevant activities, we document whether you need set-up, reminders, step-by-step prompting, supervision or physical assistance. We also consider how your function varies across settings and over time.
Your Occupational Therapy FCA report brings the evidence together in a format that explains both your circumstances and the reasoning behind the recommendations.
Relevant background, your priorities, living arrangements, existing supports and the purpose of the assessment.
Clinical observations, relevant assessment results and information from existing reports and agreed contributors. The report distinguishes what was observed, assessed and reported, and explains what the findings mean for daily activities.
The tasks requiring support, the type and level of assistance, and the frequency and duration supported by the evidence. For children, we consider how disability-related assistance differs from the support typically needed at their age.
Relevant safety concerns, environmental barriers, unmet needs and the role and sustainability of family and other informal supports.
Recommendations linked to assessment findings, functional impact and your goals. These address the supports, equipment, strategies or further assessments indicated by the evidence and within the occupational therapist’s scope.
Our focus is a clear explanation of need: what support is recommended, what it is intended to address and why it is appropriate for you.
HPNT provides paediatric and adult functional capacity assessments for people whose disability affects everyday activities and participation.
For children and adolescents, we consider self-care, play, learning everyday skills, family routines and participation at home, school and in the community. We work with families to understand the support their child requires across these settings.
For adults, we assess daily living, household tasks, community access, relationships, routines and the assistance needed to manage life at home and beyond.
Referral enquiries include autism, developmental delay, intellectual disability, psychosocial disability, acquired brain injury, stroke and other neurological or physical disabilities. We review each referral against the person’s needs and the assessment purpose before confirming the service.
An FCA enquiry is relevant when current reports do not explain support needs clearly, functioning or living circumstances have changed, or updated functional evidence has been requested.
An NDIS Functional Capacity Assessment can provide evidence for an access application, a plan reassessment or consideration of changed support needs. The report explains the connection between disability, everyday functioning and the assistance being recommended.
Depending on the findings, recommendations address occupational therapy, daily living skill development, personal assistance, community participation, assistive technology or the need for more specific assessments.
HPNT provides the clinical assessment and recommendations. The NDIA makes decisions about NDIS eligibility and funding.
Not every application or planning discussion requires a new FCA. We clarify the referral purpose and review available information so the assessment addresses an identified evidence need rather than duplicating existing work.
An FCA examines current functioning across relevant areas of everyday life and explains disability-related support needs. It is suited to questions requiring a broad picture of function.
A progress report explains the intervention delivered, progress towards goals, remaining difficulties and recommendations for the next stage of support. It does not automatically involve a new comprehensive assessment.
A Home and Living Assessment focuses on the support a person needs in their living environment and the options relevant to their circumstances. Requests involving Supported Independent Living (SIL), Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) or other home and living arrangements require specific evidence and an agreed assessment scope.
An FCA can identify the need for further work. Detailed equipment prescription, equipment trials, home modification recommendations or a Home and Living Assessment are not automatically included in every FCA quote.
Our occupational therapists provide functional capacity assessments in Darwin and Palmerston, with assessment locations selected around the information needed and the client’s circumstances.
Home visits and agreed community observations allow us to examine relevant daily tasks and environmental barriers. Clinic appointments in Larrakeyah and Zuccoli are arranged through our team. School-based assessment activities require appropriate consent and agreement with the school.
For enquiries elsewhere in the Northern Territory, contact HPNT to discuss service availability, assessment options and any travel arrangements before booking.
The cost of a Functional Capacity Assessment depends on the scope and the occupational therapy time required. Assessment appointments are only one part of the work involved. Your quote identifies the agreed work, including relevant records review, assessment, scoring and interpretation, clinical analysis, report writing and communication with your support network.
Any applicable travel charges and separately scoped assessments are identified before work begins. We provide a quote and Service Agreement so you can understand the proposed service and costs before deciding to proceed.
For existing NDIS clients, payment depends on the funding available in the plan and whether it can be used for the proposed assessment and report. We confirm payment arrangements before commencement and apply current NDIS pricing requirements where applicable.
For an assessment before NDIS access, contact us to discuss a privately funded quote and the payment arrangements before booking.
We confirm the proposed assessment schedule and report timeframe when reviewing your referral and agreeing on the scope. Timing depends on the information required, the assessment activities, consultation with relevant people and receipt of supporting documents.
Some referrals require observations or information from more than one setting. Assessment appointment length, total billable occupational therapy hours and the calendar time to receive the report are different. Your quote and booking discussion clarify these arrangements.
Include any NDIS meeting, reassessment or other report deadline in your referral so we can confirm whether it can be met before you proceed.
Complete HPNT’s referral form for yourself, a family member or a client. Include the assessment purpose, location and any relevant deadline. Referrals for another person require their consent or appropriate authority.
Our team reviews your enquiry, discusses the information required and confirms service availability. We provide the proposed assessment arrangements, quote, Service Agreement and consent documentation.
Your occupational therapist completes the agreed assessment and prepares the FCA report. Findings and recommendations are shared with you or your authorised representative, and with others according to your consent and applicable requirements.
HPNT is a locally owned, registered NDIS provider led by occupational therapists. Our work centres on everyday function, the person’s priorities and the environments where support is needed.
We connect assessment findings with real activities and explain the assistance required. Recommendations follow the evidence rather than a standard package of supports.
We respect your communication preferences, culture and decisions about who participates in your assessment. Your goals and existing strengths remain part of the report alongside the areas where support is required.
We discuss the assessment purpose, scope, costs and expected timing before proceeding. Your assessment is planned around the questions that need to be answered.
Explore HPNT’s occupational therapy services for children and adults, early childhood supports, assistive technology and home assessment needs.
Need a clearer picture of everyday function and support needs? Contact Healing Pathways NT to discuss an Occupational Therapy Functional Capacity Assessment in Darwin or Palmerston. Whether you are enquiring for yourself, your child or a client, tell us what the assessment needs to address and any relevant deadline.
Your Journey. Infinite Pathways.