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Writer's pictureDeb Banning

How To Make Your Therapy Funding Go Further with a Capability Coach (Therapy Assistant)

At Body Agility we do everything we can to ensure our patients receive the best possible care, service and value. Did you know that by using a carefully trained Therapy Assistant as a Capability Coach, you can stretch your therapy budget much further and make progress towards multiple therapy goals?


What is Capability Coaching / Therapy Assistance?

A Capability Coach (Therapy Assistant) can enable you to make incremental yet meaningful progress towards your therapy goals in a cost effective way. Evidence-based practice tells us that the best therapeutic outcomes occur when a person is able to translate their therapy into everyday routines. Most people need regular support to achieve these outcomes, which is where a Capability Coach / Therapy Assistant comes in!


A Capability Coach (Therapy Assistant) is a cost-effective way to help you to learn skills and then put them in action in your daily life. Patients often tell us that they're able to demonstrate a technique / skill in a clinic or when they're with a therapist, but when they get home, they can’t repeat it! We can help. 😊


A Capability Coach can assist to implement your Treatment Plan (created by a qualified Therapist), or transfer skills, through a mentoring process, and by integrating these skills into your daily routines. A Capability Coach can help you practice skills / techniques in real world situations (ie: at your local café!), by supporting you in real world situations to practice skills - you don't have to do it alone.


How Can I Make My Therapy Funding Go Further?

It's simply cheaper to use a Therapy Assistant instead of a Therapist on an ongoing basis. If clinically appropriate, a Capability Coach can be trained by your normal Therapist(s) to implement your Treatment Plan(s) in a far more cost effective manner. For example, the current NDIS rate per hour for an Occupational Therapist is $193.99 and the current NDIS rate per hour for a Therapy Assistant (level 2) is $86.79.


Your Capability Coach can mentor you to achieve multi-disciplinary goals in single sessions. For example, you may have goals set by your Occupational Therapist and also your Physiotherapist. Your Capability Coach can integrate these 'multi-disciplinary' goals into each session (if clinically appropriate) - offering even more value for money.


How Does Capability Coaching Work?

In order to transfer skills learned in therapy to real world situations, your Capability Coach will spend a minimum of two hours per session with you in real-world situations to assist you to make real progress towards your goals. For example, your Capability Coach may go shopping with you, to practice skills learned with your:

  • Speech Pathologist (ie: chatting with check-out staff, reading the shopping list and aisle signage),

  • Physiotherapist (ie: learning to use your walking frame; practicing transfers in and out of the car or bus),

  • Occupational Therapist (doing some cooking when you return home).

Real and meaningful change takes time, and by using a Capability Coach (Therapy Assistant), achieving your goals can be much more affordable.


What Qualifications Do Body Agility Therapy Assistants / Capability Coaches Have?

All Body Agility Therapy Assistants / Capability Coaches are current (or graduate) allied health students, either studying physiotherapy, occupational therapy or speech pathology and operate under the guidance of a qualified therapist.


Body Agility Can Help You

Body Agility are nationally registered NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) providers of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, exercise physiology, therapy assistance and personal training. Experience the Body Agility difference and experience exceptional care and customer service. We take the time to understand your NDIS Goals, to fully understand your condition, and to create a tailored Treatment Plan to help you achieve your goals.


What are YOUR goals? We can help. Contact us now, we have capacity to provide services to you immediately, right across the broader Perth region with home visits, or at one of our clinics / gyms / any hydropool - or via video consultation (telehealth). We'd be delighted to hear from you.





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