ONGOING ADULT OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Capacity-Building Occupational Therapy for Adults
Build practical skills, routines and confidence for everyday life.
With the right strategies, practice and support, everyday activities can become easier, more manageable and more meaningful.
Capacity-building Occupational Therapy, sometimes described as ongoing Occupational Therapy, helps a person work towards practical goals over time. The Occupational Therapist works with the person to understand what is getting in the way, try useful strategies, practise skills and build routines that work in everyday life.
Strive to Thrive Therapy provides mobile capacity-building Occupational Therapy for adults across Greater Brisbane, including Brisbane’s northside and southside, Ipswich, Logan, Redlands and Moreton Bay. Therapy is shaped around what matters to the person, including daily living skills, routines, fatigue management, equipment use and community participation.
What is capacity-building Occupational Therapy?
Capacity-building Occupational Therapy is ongoing, goal-focused support that helps a person build, strengthen or maintain practical skills, routines and strategies for everyday life.
Unlike a single assessment, it gives the person time to practise, review what is working and adjust the approach as their confidence, needs or circumstances change.
The aim is meaningful progress in the activities and routines that matter to the person.
Who we support
Adults aged 18 and over who want support to work on practical skills, routines, confidence or participation in everyday life.
Where therapy happens
Appointments usually take place at home or in the community so strategies can be practised where they will be used. Telehealth can also be considered when it suits the therapy goal.
How we help
We identify meaningful goals, explore practical strategies, support the person to practise and review progress as needs and circumstances change.
When might capacity-building Occupational Therapy help?
Capacity-building therapy can help when a person wants to improve or maintain an everyday activity and needs time, practice and support to find an approach that works.
The focus is not simply completing the activity during an appointment. It is helping the person build strategies and routines they can use with greater confidence in everyday life.
Therapy can be useful when:
- The person wants to build confidence with a daily activity or routine and practise it in the environment where it will be used.
- Planning, organisation, getting started or following through is affecting everyday activities.
- Pain, fatigue or limited energy is making activities harder to manage.
- The person wants to participate more confidently at home or in the community.
- Equipment or agreed strategies need to be used more safely or consistently.
- A routine or support approach needs to change following a change in health, support or circumstances.
Start with the goal that matters to the person
Capacity-building therapy begins with an activity, routine or goal that matters to the person.
The Occupational Therapist works with the person to understand what is already helping, what is getting in the way and what practical changes can support progress.
A meaningful everyday goal
We begin with what the person wants or needs to do. This might include preparing meals, managing personal care, completing household tasks, planning the week, using transport or participating in the community.
Strengths and barriers
We look at what the person can already do, which parts of the activity are difficult and what personal, environmental or support factors are affecting it.
Practice in the right setting
Skills and strategies are practised in the places where they are needed whenever practical. This helps identify what works in real life.
Review and adjustment
The approach is reviewed as the person practises. Strategies can be simplified, changed or built upon as confidence, needs and circumstances develop.
Everyday areas therapy can support
The therapy focus is individual and connected to the person’s goals. Support may focus on one area or bring several areas together.
Daily routines and personal care
Therapy can help the person develop practical steps and routines for showering, dressing, personal care and preparing for the day.
Household tasks and home participation
This may include meal preparation, cleaning, laundry, shopping or organising meaningful household activities.
Planning, organisation and habits
Therapy can use prompts, visual supports, sequencing, time management and routines to make activities easier to start and complete.
Community access and participation
The person can work on planning, confidence and practical strategies for using transport, attending appointments or taking part in community activities.
Energy and fatigue management
The Occupational Therapist can help the person understand activity demands, plan rest, pace tasks and make practical changes to conserve energy.
Using equipment and strategies
Support can include learning and practising how to use agreed equipment, technology or strategies safely and consistently within everyday routines.
Progress is built through practice
Advice can provide direction, but everyday skills and routines usually become stronger through practice.
The Occupational Therapist helps the person try strategies during real activities, understand what is working and make practical adjustments where needed.
Progress can also mean maintaining an important skill, preventing a routine from breaking down or finding a safer way to continue an activity.
Progress can look different for each person. It may include:
- Completing more steps of an activity.
- Needing fewer prompts or less assistance.
- Using a strategy more consistently.
- Feeling more confident starting or completing a task.
- Managing energy or time more effectively.
- Building a routine that is easier to maintain.
- Returning to an activity that matters to the person.
Small changes are valuable when they make everyday life work better. The goal is steady, useful progress that the person can recognise and build upon.
What does the therapy process look like?
Step 1: Start with the goal that matters
Tell us what the person wants or needs to do, what is currently difficult and what strategies or support have already been tried.
Step 2: Understand the current situation
The Occupational Therapist explores how the activity is currently managed, what is getting in the way and what strengths, supports and opportunities can be built upon.
Step 3: Agree on a practical therapy focus
The person and Occupational Therapist identify the priorities, the first strategies to try and how progress will be reviewed.
Step 4: Practise and adapt
Skills and strategies are practised in relevant settings. The approach is adjusted based on the person’s experience and what works in everyday life.
Step 5: Review progress and next steps
Progress and current priorities are reviewed together. The therapy plan can then continue, change focus, pause or conclude when the current goals have been addressed.
Clear goals, useful strategies and measurable progress
We agree on the therapy focus, what useful progress will look like and how it will be recognised.
This can include
- Practical goals connected to everyday activities.
- Strategies, routines or environmental changes to try.
- Support to practise skills in the relevant environment.
- Guidance for using equipment or technology more consistently.
- Adjustments based on the person’s experience and progress.
- Collaboration with family members, support workers or other professionals, with consent.
Reviewing and documenting progress
Progress is reviewed with the person so therapy remains connected to current goals and continues to provide value.
Where written information is needed, we agree on its purpose before it is prepared. This can include a progress update, therapy summary or focused clinical report.
A Functional Capacity Assessment is usually the better pathway when a comprehensive assessment of current function, support needs and participation is required.
Is capacity-building Occupational Therapy the right pathway?
Capacity Building Occupational Therapy
This may be the right pathway when the person wants ongoing support to practise skills, build routines, develop strategies or work towards a practical everyday goal.
Functional Capacity Assessment
An FCA may be more useful when a broad and current picture of everyday function, support needs and participation is required.
Assistive Technology Assessment
This may be more suitable when the main question is whether equipment or technology could help with an activity, mobility need or safety concern.
Home Modification Assessment
This may be the right pathway when the physical home is the main barrier to access, transfers or an everyday activity.
Related capacity building resources
How to make NDIS therapy less overwhelming
A clear guide to starting therapy, choosing a goal and understanding what to expect.
How to write an Occupational Therapy referral
See what information can help the team understand the person’s goals, current difficulties and the support being requested.
Occupational Therapy and NDIS resources
Explore practical articles about Occupational Therapy, NDIS funding, assessments and preparing for support.
Frequently asked questions
Is capacity-building Occupational Therapy the same as an FCA?
No. A Functional Capacity Assessment is generally a defined assessment that describes the person’s current function and support needs.
Capacity-building Occupational Therapy is ongoing work focused on practical goals, strategies, routines and participation.
Is capacity-building Occupational Therapy the same as support work?
No. Capacity-building Occupational Therapy is a clinical, goal-focused service.
The Occupational Therapist identifies barriers, develops and tests strategies, supports skill development and reviews progress.
Support workers can help the person use agreed strategies during everyday routines, but their role is different from Occupational Therapy.
How often are appointments, and how long does therapy continue?
The frequency and duration depend on the person’s goals, the practice needed, funding and how they respond to therapy.
The Occupational Therapist agrees on a suitable starting approach with the person and reviews it as progress, priorities and circumstances change.
Can appointments happen in the community?
Yes. A community appointment can be useful when it is connected to the person’s goal, such as practising transport, shopping, attending appointments or participating in an activity.
Can family members or support workers be involved?
Yes, with the person’s consent.
Their involvement can help when strategies need to be understood or used consistently across everyday routines.
Can therapy include equipment?
Yes. Capacity-building therapy can include learning and practising how to use agreed equipment or strategies safely and consistently.
A separate Assistive Technology assessment is usually the better pathway when the main question is choosing, trialling or prescribing equipment.
Start with the goal that matters
You do not need to know what the therapy plan should look like.
Tell us what the person wants or needs to do, what is currently getting in the way and what strategies or support have already been tried.
We can review the information and help identify the most useful next step.