Independent Assessments Submission 301
Independent Assessments Submission
Addressing term of reference E appropriateness of the assessment tools and J related matters
I am an occupational Therapist. I am trained in administering two of the chosen assessment tools, the WHODAS and the CANS.
My concern is how these tools are being administered. I have a read and seen a number of reports from participants who have had these two tools administered as part of an Independent assessment. I have also seen the data collection sheet which the NDIA is calling a report.
From what I have seen and read, neither of these two tools are being administered or scored correctly according to the validated protocols.
Leaving aside the issue of suitability of these tools which has been addressed in submissions by other OT colleagues, the stated purpose of using standardized tools was to obtain a reliable assessment result. If the tools are not being administered or scored according to the correct protocols this effectively invalidates the results.
How can we have confidence in the outcome of these trials, if this is the case? I submit that whether these assessment tools are being used correctly needs to be investigated and if it is found they are not being used correctly then the reasons for the incorrect administration and scoring need to be evaluated and addressed.
Roslyn Davis