Can I use NDIS funds for Therapy at Home?
Our Therapy at Home programs are designed as a hybrid model of therapy for upskilling both children AND their supports. The other differentiation is that our program interventions are undertaken in the child’s natural environments to provide the best opportunity for children to build their skills over time through repeated practice across supported settings.
We provide the videos, guides, visuals and tools so that the child and their supports do not have any barrier to effectively implementing these interventions in their intended format; just like if they came to see us 1:1 in clinic- but at a much greater value for money package with potential for greater impact.
Our programs are designed by our experienced team of occupational therapists to be targeted and goal driven online training and interventions with tools to assist families and their supports to implement in the home environment.
Although we incorporate tools as a small inclusion with our programs, we do not consider these to be ‘products’ when one is considering how to fund our programs via their NDIS plan buckets.
To best support participants in measuring and tracking their progress we also provide the option for outcome reports to be provided for all programs and we have the option to request 1:1 support from an allied health assistant or occupational therapist to provide individualised guidance on effective implementation of the program at home for an added charge.
This type of intervention is innovative, hard to come by and extremely valuable. We have seen over 1500 children across the country come through our Therapy at Home programs now, and the qualitative and quantitative data we have been collecting (specifically measuring client outcomes) is a testament to this way of delivering therapy options to families that is effective, impactful and represents value for money.
Capacity or Core:
Invoicing your NDIS buckets
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2023-24 outlines the various funding categories that may be allocated in a participant’s NDIS plan.
At this current time, we invoice our Therapy at Home programs through either capacity building or core buckets.
The NDIS Pricing Arrangements and Price Limits 2023-24 states the following in relation to these buckets:
Capacity Building: this support category includes assessment supports, training supports, strategy development supports, and therapeutic supports to assist the development of, or to increase, a participant’s skills and their capacity for independence and community participation.
Core Supports: this support category relates to assisting with, or supervising, personal tasks of daily life to enable the participant to live as autonomously as possible. These supports are provided individually to participants and can be provided in a range of environments, including the participant’s own home.
How we meet the NDIS reasonable and necessary criteria
As a provider of NDIS services we are really mindful of the operational guidelines and reasonable and necessary criteria. We state that when selecting a program, guardians must ensure the program aligns with the goals of the child’s NDIS plan. If guardians are unsure they can contact us to discuss.
The NDIS funds reasonable and necessary supports
These supports are those that will help participants:
Pursue their goals, objectives and aspirations
Therapy at Home programs are designed to be goal driven skill development programs for engaging with in the home environment, utilising the therapeutic and evidence based power of play. Common NDIS participant goals such a development of daily living skills, motor skills, executive function, ability to follow instructions and maintain attention to complete tasks etc are at the centre of the planning and design of our Therapy at Home programs. Check to see that your participants goals, objectives and aspirations align with the goals and outcomes of our Therapy at Home program to ensure an appropriate fit. Outcome measures and reports are embedded as part of our Therapy at Home programs.
Increase their independence
Therapy at Home programs increase a participants independence by scaffolding tasks with visual, kinesthetic and auditory supports to assist them in practising and honing their skills in their home environment with the opportunity for repeated practice in a familiar setting, and to slowly reduce supports over time as their confidence and abilities develop.
Increase community and workplace participation and develop their capacity to actively take part in the community
Therapy at Home programs have secondary skill building aspects that develop a participants capacity to actively take part in their community by providing them with opportunities to build confidence and independence, which in turn results in an increased capacity to interact with the outside world.
Enjoy an ordinary life
Therapy at Home Programs support participants to develop everyday, ordinary skills like cooking, drawing, cutting, pasting, writing, moving their bodies, gardening, mindfulness, gratitude and so much more. Our programs provide participants formal and informal supports with focus, education and resources to help participants experience, develop and enjoy these ordinary life experiences that so many of us simply take for granted.
Reasonable and necessary supports:
Must be related to a participant’s disability
Therapy at Home programs are designed to support people with disabilities to work toward their goals. Please review the goals of each program on our website to ensure the program you select is related to your participants personal goals.
Must not include day-to-day living costs not related to your disability support needs, such as groceries
Therapy at Home programs do not include day-to-day living costs. Our programs are designed to teach and scaffold participants through a series of skills to improve and develop their abilities and capacities in the home environment utilising their formal and informal supports. The adaptive resources that accompany our programs provide participants with the opportunity to practice and repeat skills in their everyday life and familiar settings, resulting in further likelihood that they will achieve outcomes and goals overtime. Evidence/best practice indicates that repetition of skills in the home environment is a significant precursor for successful skill development and sustained outcomes.
Increase community and workplace participation and develop their capacity to actively take part in the community
Therapy at Home programs have secondary skill building aspects that develop a participants capacity to actively take part in their community by providing them with opportunities to build confidence and independence, which in turn results in an increased capacity to interact with the outside world.
Should represent value for money
Therapy at Home programs represent significant value for money as they include an online program with lifetime access, adaptive resources to support ongoing practice of skills in the home environment, and pre and post outcome measures presented in a final outcome report. To invest from 2 therapy hours on a program that is delivered to the participants home, includes outcome measures and an outcome report, education/training, accessible formats (videos, visuals and written instructions) and the resources needed to actually implement the program repeatedly into everyday life represents positive innovation in the ndis space and value for money. Therapy at Home programs up-skill participants/families/carers/support workers. They integrate skills into the participants’ natural environment. They bring caregivers and participants together to learn new skills, thus the skills are more likely to be practised repeatedly helping increase confidence, self esteem and mastery, which makes the participant feel more valued within the family. Therapy at Home also helps form positive relationships between participants and supports, and develop new healthy habits that are more likely to stick when compared to traditional therapy models.
Must be likely to be effective and work for the participant
Therapy at Home programs have been proven to be effective and work for our participants. With quantitative data from outcome reports showing measured improvements in participant ability, plus qualitative data being shared by parents/guardians reporting a wide variety of improvements in ability, capacity and skills acquired we are confident that if the program is implemented in its intended format as outlined in our service agreement and communications, and the participant is supported appropriately with their personal goals aligned with the program goals, our Therapy at Home programs will provide effective opportunities for skill development.
How to purchase programs using NDIS Funds on the website
Our Therapy at Home programs are available to order directly through our online store.
Our NDIS Goals Guide helps you to choose which programs align with the participants’ NDIS goals and age. We have used traditional chronological age ranges as a guide for you to be considered in the individual context of your child’s developmental age.
Our programs can be purchased using NDIS funds; capacity building or core. You can pay via credit card or an invoice. Choose these options at the checkout.
For more detailed information please visit this page on our website.