The Functional OT Workplace Needs Assessment

Bespoke face to face or telephone-based OT assessment for individuals facing challenges with daily living due to ill health or injury, which has an impact on their work.

Occupational therapists (OTs) traditionally work with people of all ages who live with a wide range of disorders, physical disabilities, or long-term conditions, learning disabilities, or mental health conditions – or a combination of any or all of these difficulties.

Regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), OTs will be engaged in supporting individuals to overcome barriers to health, education, and employment.

The dedicated ‘Work’ specialism within the Royal College of Occupational Therapists engages OTs who have an interest in work, vocational rehabilitation, and occupational health. Their key function is to support people to remain in, return to, or obtain work or meaningful activity.

The Functional OT Workplace Needs Assessment will deliver a bespoke face to face and/or telephone-based OT assessment for individuals facing challenges with daily living due to ill-health or injury, which has an impact on their work.

The main long-term aim of our assessment and any consequential intervention is to maximise work readiness and to facilitate a return to work from absence. The physical disabilities experienced by individuals are often wide-ranging and frequently complex, with associated psychological symptoms. PAM OTs also work with individuals with cognitive and sensory difficulties.

The specialist Function OT Workplace Needs Assessment is for employees with difficulties associated with:

Neurological illness

Traumatic brain injury

Spinal cord injuries

Scar management

Psychological Conditions

Emotional Impairments

Developmental Impairments

We can provide information and guidance regarding the most appropriate ‘tools’, equipment, training, and interventions such as vocational rehabilitation (a form of work-based, specific recovery programme) to support work inclusion and will provide a professional clinical opinion regarding longevity of work inclusion.

Functional OT Workplace Needs Assessments assist employees and their employers and managers in establishing their maximum level of function with the aim of meeting the physical and psychological demands of their job. A fully holistic approach to a working role, whether this is a physical job role, a desk-based role or a person facing role, assists to facilitate the identification of strengths and weaknesses and learning opportunities, permitting the individual facing difficulties to overcome those barriers.

Features

For the employer

Occupational therapists are dual trained in physical and psychological/mental health. They are specialists in human functional performance through participation in everyday life, particularly in employment and meaningful occupation. Our assessments and interventions are designed to be bespoke to each person’s employment circumstances and needs. Our strength is that we are goal orientated, evidence-based, holistic, timely and effective. This maximises participation in job roles and assists in employee retention despite ill health, whilst reducing sickness absence.

For the employee

Our occupational therapists are skilled and experienced and are well-versed in the use of a biopsychosocial approach to assessment and intervention. Goal setting is integral to this process and is essential when working towards achievable vocational or occupational outcomes for employees. A strategy is designed, implemented, and reviewed, ensuring the individual is at the centre of all interactions.

PAM OTs will aim to increase your employee’s independence and function in their roles through a holistic and client-centred approach.

Whilst considering the individual’s physical, psychological, and social needs as a one-to-one service which can be in PAM clinics, onsite in the working environment or as a combination, over the series of sessions appropriate for each individual case.

As a consequence of a PAM Functional OT Workplace Needs Assessment, we support employers’ ability to promote skill-sharing, circulating information and sharing research and relevant resources. We will supplement education, training, research, and development related to work, potentially facilitating study days, and learning events for all parties involved, supporting employees and their colleagues, managers, and employers.

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Functional Capacity Evaluation FAQs

What is done during a functional capacity evaluation?

A Functional Capacity Evaluation involves completing a series of tests that are specifically designed to match a comparative job role. This may involve heavy lifting or pushing or pulling, which would be measured in a graduated increment with heart rate monitors and pulse oximeters, if necessary and with specific safety guidelines in place, or may include fine dexterity work, such as handling and manipulating nuts and bolts, which are timed and/or counted. All the tests are designed to have a quantified outcome of capacity.

How long does a functional capacity assessment take?

Depending on the nature of the job role or tasks that are being measured against, an FCE can take anything from 30 minutes to 8 hours to complete.

What happens if you fail a functional capacity evaluation?

It is not possible to “fail” a Functional Capacity Evaluation. The assessment simply evaluates your capacity to perform specified tasks and match that capacity to the job role demands in question. It may be that you do not meet the demands of the job match criteria and we can offer potential solutions to this and/or rehabilitation to improve your capacity to perform those specified tasks.

Would you like more information?

We hope our website provides you with the information you need about us. If you would like to know more, please get in touch.