What to Expect: Preparing for your Functional Capacity Assessment

What to Expect: Preparing for your Functional Capacity Assessment

A Functional Capacity Assessment (FCA) is an evaluation completed by an Occupational Therapist (OT). Its purpose is to understand how your health condition, injury, or disability impacts your ability to manage everyday activities, and to identify the support, equipment, or modifications you need to live as safely and independently as possible.

1. Before Your Appointment

Your OT will call you prior to the appointment to complete a home visit risk assessment. This will just be a short call to check for any hazards at your home that we need to be aware of (e.g. grumpy dogs). You don’t need to do any intense preparation, but keeping a few things in mind will help the session run smoothly.

• Documentation: Have a list of your current medications, medical diagnoses, current NDIS goals or plan, and any recent reports from doctors or specialists ready emailed to admin@greenhousehealthhub.com.au
• Your Usual Aids: Keep any items you normally use nearby, such as glasses, hearing aids, walking sticks, frames, or splints.

2. During Your Functional Capacity Assessment (What Actually Happens)

The appointment typically lasts around 4 hours and is split into three main parts: the conversation, assessment questionnaires and the practical observation. As these are focussed on an individuals situation, diagnosis and environment, no two assessments are the same. However they generally follow this structure:

Part A: The Discussion (~45–60 minutes)

The OT will sit down with you to chat about your life, your health history, and your goals. They will ask about:

• Your daily routine and what a “typical day” looks like for you.
• Areas where you feel confident and areas where you struggle.
• Your current support network (family, friends, or paid support workers).
• Your home environment (e.g., steps, shower layout) and how you get around your community.

Part B: Assessment Questionnaires (~45–60 minutes)

In addition to the physical tasks, the OT will use formal, standardised questionnaires as part of your Functional Capacity Assessment. These provide measurable data to support your funding or treatment requests. All tools used specifically align to target areas in the NDIS internal assessment tool: Instrument for the Classification and Assessment of Support Needs (I-CAN) version 6. Depending on your specific situation, the OT may run through some of the following example tools with you (or ask a family member/carer to complete them): 

• WHODAS 2.0 (World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule): A widely used tool that measures health and disability levels across six areas of life: understanding/communicating, getting around, self-care, getting along with people, life activities (household/work), and participation in society.
• LSP-16 (Life Skills Profile): A short, 16-item questionnaire focused on your psychosocial functioning. It looks at practical survival skills, compliance with treatment, communication, and how well you manage social interactions.
• Sensory Profile: An assessment that looks at how you process sensory information (such as sights, sounds, textures, and smells). It helps the OT understand if you are over-sensitive or under-sensitive to certain environments, and how that impacts your behavior and comfort.

Why these matter: While the practical observations show how you move on the day of the appointment, these questionnaires give a broader picture of your psychological and cognitive well-being over the past month. They are vital for giving funding bodies a complete look at your everyday life.

Part C: The Practical Assessment (~60–90 minutes)

The OT will observe you performing simple, everyday tasks. This is not a test you can fail. The goal is simply to see how you move and complete tasks. This part of the assessment has the most variability based on your personal situation. Depending on your needs, they may look at:

• Personal Care: Simulated or actual tasks like moving in/out of bed, brushing teeth, or standing at the sink.
• Domestic Tasks: Making a cup of tea, preparing a simple snack, or picking something up from the floor.
• Mobility & Physical Function: Walking around your home, checking your balance, and assessing your hand strength or fine motor skills.
• Cognition & Memory: Following simple instructions, planning a task, or managing a hypothetical budget/schedule.

An example task we would generally complete with an adult participant is to plan a simple meal, attend a supermarket together to purchase items and prepare the meal.

3. After Your Appointment

Once the session is over, the OT’s work happens behind the scenes:

• Follow-up: If the OT needs to clarify anything from the day they will be in touch with you, your carer or relevant health practitioner.
• Report Writing: The OT will compile a detailed, comprehensive report outlining your functional strengths and challenges.
• Recommendations: The report will formally recommend funding, services, assistive technology (equipment), or home modifications that will best support you.
• Submission: This report is typically sent to you and your support coordinator (if you have one) within two weeks to help secure the support you need.

If you need a functional capacity assessment, reach out. We have a wealth of experience in delivering assessments and working with people to develop plans to better navigate their unique functional support needs.

Contact us to book an assessment today.

Want more info about FCA’s work with the NDIS? Check out the official NDIS info page here.