Functional Capacity Assessments for NDIS / Social Work

This online seminar provides information on what is required to engage in the area of Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA).  After completing the training, participants will be able to define a rationale behind Functional Capacity Assessments, demonstrate practical knowledge for conducting Functional Capacity Assessments, and become familiar with the NDIS and profession-specific guidelines and knowledge base that guide and supports our practice in this area. The participants will also be able to demonstrate practical knowledge about functional domains. and apply a holistic framework for assessing and organising functional capacity information, and writing comprehensive FCA reports. 

Functional Capacity Assessments are conducted to assist NDIS in understanding the needs of NDIS participants, so that appropriate supports and services can be funded, allowing the participants to live a more fulfilling life. The NDIS website lists a number of preferred treating health professionals that can provide functional evidence to NDIS and social workers are especially named as one of these professional groups. 

An average FCA by social workers consists of 16-25 pages and encompasses discipline-specific psychosocial assessment, strength assessment as well as the assessment of presenting risks and challenges. Accordingly, functional capacity assessment reports by social workers present information about health, physical, cognitive, mental health, social, interpersonal, cultural, and environmental areas that are analysed from a variety of perspectives  The completion of the FCA report also requires both discipline-specific and multidisciplinary skills and knowledge of assessment domains and tools.

H-L Therapy Functional Capacity Assessment Training provides a comprehensive framework, knowledge, and insight from the practitioner’s perspective. It covers the types of functional capacity assessments, assessment domains, and indicators for Functional Capacity Assessments by social workers, professional and NDIS guidelines that inform our practice in this area, and discipline-specific and multidisciplinary assessment instruments that may be used for cross-validation of results. To increase the validity of the functional capacity data, it is recommended that the assessment information is cross-validated by a range of standardised, evidence-based assessment instruments that are recommended by the NDIS as the best practice in evidence.  This functional capacity data can be further strengthened by using a range of other discipline-specific and mental health assessment instruments, information about which would be provided in the training.

Following the training, all participants will be provided with the information package, which includes a copy of the presentation slides, a list of FCA resources, references, and easily modified FCA template.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ATTENDEES OF FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY TRAINING (SOCIAL WORK)

*** The training package is accessible on the day of this live  event and for 60 days afterward.

Please follow the steps below to access your training and download training materials:

1.  Once you register you will receive a confirmation of your registration via email
2. If the pictures in this email are not showing, please click on the picture icon to download them
3. The link that says 'view access info' would then become visible
4. Click on this link and it will lead you to your electronic ticket.
5. Once you access your ticket click the button that says 'Access online event.'
6. This will lead you to a virtual hub which is only accessible to people who have purchased this training
7. From the virtual hub, you will be able to find the Zoom link to the training and attend it at the pre-scheduled time.  You will also find the information package (this can be downloaded) and the link to our evaluation survey.

We would appreciate it if you could please complete the evaluation survey, even if you have already completed the poll during the training event. This would provide us with more qualitative data and ideas on how to continuously improve our events. 

THE ATTENDEES FEEDBACK

Here are some of the comments that our training attendees shared about this particular event:

"Thank you it was very informative and just what I needed. Excellent information. Thanks."

"I wanted to say, I did the functional capacity assessment training and it was honestly the best training! Amazing work! Thanks for the session - very informative and helpful!"

"Thank you, Alicja! This was a great session :-)"

"I really appreciated the training and found it was well presented & easily understood".

Thank you for the session, learnt a lot!"

"Valuable 3.5hrs thank you."

INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRESENTER: Alicja Weidner is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker/ Principal Therapist and Director at H-L Therapy.  She has over 20 years of experience conducting a wide range of multidisciplinary, psychosocial, mental health, and functional assessments during her employment in a range of government and private health, mental health,  disability, rehabilitation, and aged care services (i.e. Aged Care Assessment Teams).  In 2016, Alicja established H-L Therapy where she continues to provide therapeutic services and conduct discipline-specific, interdisciplinary, and mental health assessments using up-to-date, evidence-based assessment instruments.  The assessments that are commonly conducted by H-L Therapy include outcome assessments, functional capacity assessments, biopsychosocial assessments, risk assessments, and mental health assessments.

PLEASE NOTE that this training is specially designed for social workers. If your professional background is different from social work or developmental education, please consult with your professional board or association to confirm if NDIS functional capacity assessments are within your scope of practice. Please do this prior to registering for our Multidisciplinary Training - see the turquoise-colored FCA Training picture at the bottom of this page, where you can also access other training events currently provided by H-L Therapy.