Pre-Assessment
Information for Clients, Carers and Professionals
This information is sent out with a letter that confirms the arrangements agreed for the assessment visit.
You can download a Microsoft Word version of this information here: Pre-Assessment Information
If you are going to be involved with a Communicate Assessment, you might have already received a "COMMUNICATE" information sheet or booklet. This has answers to some "Frequently Asked Questions" about the Visiting Assessment Service. Now, you will want to know more about what to expect when the Assessment Team visit you. We hope that this will answer your questions. There is also advice about what you can do to prepare for the visit, to help make it as successful as possible.
Introducing everyone
The appointment letter will say:
- who will be coming from Communicate
- where we will be meeting you
- when we were asked to arrive.
Usually, the full team visits, so you are likely to meet:
- a Speech and Language Therapist from Communicate
- an Occupational Therapist from Communicate
- a Rehabilitation Engineer from the Regional Technical Aids Service.
When we arrive, we will introduce ourselves to you and to anyone who is with you. There are often several people at the Assessment. We will ask:
- who is going to be actively involved in the assessment
- who is present to provide extra information or advice
- who is present to provide moral support, put the kettle on, answer the door, etc.
Finding out about communication needs
Next, we need to find out what everyone is aiming to get out of the assessment.
- Some aims might not be realistic.
- Some aims may just take longer to achieve than people expect.
- Everyone needs to agree what will be covered in the time available.
Then we will want to talk about communication problems, and which ones bother you most. We will also want to know when and why communication is sometimes less of a problem.
Sometimes people at the Assessment have quite different thoughts about what is difficult, what is easy, and what is a problem. It helps to find out what everyone thinks.
This discussion will help to identify:
- communication strengths
- communication weaknesses
- communication needs.
It is then easier to see how a communication aid might help. It helps if everyone can be actively involved in these discussions. We encourage use of any existing communication aids, speech aids, hearing aids etc. in order to enable maximum involvement. However, we realise that a very young child, or someone with severe learning difficulties, might not be actively involved in all Assessment discussions.
Trying out some communication aids
- Most of the people we visit have severe physical disabilities.
- Many of them already use some special equipment.
We asked for information about special requirements in the "Client Intake Questionnaire". We will try to bring along appropriate communication aids, and any other special equipment that might be needed to use them.
If you use any special switches or similar equipment, we will first check that these can be used easily and comfortably. We might need to adjust your seating or positioning to help you to get the most out of the communication aids. (Our recommendations might include changes to seating and positioning, if this would help you to use communication aids.)
We will show you how the equipment works and how to use it. If possible, we will have set it up beforehand so that you can start to use it with some success to talk to people.
Sometimes we see very young children who do not understand at first that the communication aid is for talking to people. This doesn't matter, as we can learn a lot through play and how a young child reacts to a communication aid.
Talking about communication aids
After you have tried some communication aids, we need to find out how everyone feels about what has happened so far.
- Which communication aids seemed most likely to be useful?
- Has anyone changed their ideas about how the aid might help?
Usually, there is at least one "favourite" communication aid, and at least one that everyone thinks is awful! It might be that there is only one obvious system. However, quite often people would like to have longer to try out the equipment.
Talking about Training and Funding
It also helps to talk about what practice and/or training might be needed. Whether the choice is obvious, or whether you are going to try out the equipment for a longer period, it is very important to make sure that you have the best chance of success using the communication aid.
Funding for the equipment also needs to be considered. It is a good idea to raise this when there are people around who might help. Therapists, teachers, social workers, etc. should think about how communication aids are funded in your area. Our team might be able to provide suggestions if funding arrangements have not already been agreed.
Talking about what happens next: The Action Plan
Towards the end of the visit it should become clear whether a further visit is needed, and if so, when. In any event, we will want to agree who does what, to take things forward.
- For example, if you want to borrow a communication aid from our Equipment Loan Library, we will need to arrange that for you.
- If you need equipment adapting first, then this will probably be taken on by the Regional Technical Aid Service.
- If other arrangements will be made, we will make a note of these, along with the outcomes of the discussion about training and funding.
All this information will go into the assessment report, along with recommendations for any equipment that could improve communication.
The patient or parents need to tell us who should get copies of this report. It is their report and the only other person who always gets a copy is the GP. Usually, we are asked to send copies to everyone who has contributed to the assessment during our visit, and sometimes to other people too, e.g. a Hospital consultant.
We discharge some people after one visit. However, we might feel that it would help if we could contact you again to review progress. If you agree that a review would be useful, then we will discuss when we should get in touch again, and who we should contact.
After the visit
When the "COMMUNICATE" team get back to base they will write the assessment report. This will include:
- relevant background information given to us in the "Client Intake Questionnaire"
- further information gathered during the visit.
This means that the report is self-contained and should make sense without having to refer to other documents, such as medical case-notes, educational reports, etc. This is helpful if you want to use the report to get funding for the communication aid, or if you need to make a case for getting training to use the equipment.
The report will describe what happened during the visit. It will also:
- explain any recommendations
- list any equipment recommended
- include the action plan agreed towards the end of the visit.
You should not find anything in the report that comes as a surprise. If you disagree with anything, or if we have left out anything important, we would like to know so we can put this right.
You will also receive a Questionnaire with the report. This will ask you whether you are satisfied with our service, and if there were any problems. We are always trying to improve the way we work and the service we offer, in line with the comments and suggestions we receive.
We will also send a similar Questionnaire to a "key person" who was identified, and present, during the visit. This is usually a person with a professional interest in the communication aid assessment and is often, but not always, the person named as the "referrer" on the "Client Intake Questionnaire".
Anything else?
If you are going to borrow something from our Equipment Loan Library, then you will certainly hear from us again after the visit.
If you have asked us to review progress, then we will get in touch at the time agreed. We will contact you or the "key person", depending on what was agreed during the visit.
Even if it is appropriate for you to be discharged from our books, we will still send a "Follow-up Questionnaire" about three months later. This helps us to monitor the outcomes of our recommendations and to find out how effective our service is in the longer term.
Whether you are borrowing equipment, are on review, or have been discharged, you can contact us again at any time if you feel that we could be of any further help. The next Section should help you to prepare for the visit.
How you can prepare for our visit
Special equipment
If you use any of the following, it would help if they were available for use during the visit:
- Any "low-tech" or "high-tech" communication aid.
- A speech aid, e.g. a personal speech amplifier or artificial larynx
- Any switches or special access aids, such as splints to help you to point, mobile arm supports, mechanical or electronic head-pointers.
- A wheelchair, or wheelchairs! Or other mobility aids
- A special seating system, postural supports, etc.
- Glasses or other low-vision aids.
- A hearing aid.
Human aids to communication
- Do you mainly communicate by gesture, sign, special body movements or facial expression?
- Do family and close friends understand you, but strangers have a lot of trouble?
- If so, it would help if someone who understands you well can attend the assessment.
CANCELLATIONS
- We like to know as soon as possible if someone needs to postpone an assessment visit.
- If we know early enough, then we might be able to see someone else instead.
- Please let us know as soon as possible if the visit needs to be postponed. Thank you.
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