Assessment tools
Some assessment tools are also used to determine eligibility to become an icare Lifetime Care participant or for acceptance into the icare Workers Care Program.
The main assessment tools we use in icare Lifetime Care and the icare Workers Care Program are:
- FIM and WeeFIM – for people with a brain injury or burns
- Care and Needs Scale (CANS) - for adults with a brain injury
- Paediatric Care and Needs Scale (PCANS-2) – for young people aged five-15 years with a brain injury
- American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Scale - for people with a spinal cord injury
- WHOQoL-Bref and KINDL - quality of life measures for adults and children with an injury
Related information and downloads
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FIM and WeeFIM
If the injured person has sustained a brain injury or burns, functional assessment using either FIM (or the paediatric version WeeFIM) is part of the eligibility criteria for interim and lifetime participation in the Lifetime Care and Support Scheme. It’s also part of the injury criteria for acceptance into the icare workers care program.
FIM and WeeFIM are also used to monitor the progress of participants and workers.
To complete an assessment using these tools, you’ll need to complete a training course and pass an online exam.
Once you pass, you’ll be an accredited assessor for two years and then will need to re-sit the examination. For more information on credentialing, see the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre (AROC) website.
If you are
willing to be contacted to conduct community FIM or WeeFIM assessments, you can nominate to be included in the AROC
'Community
FIM/WeeFIM Assessor List' on the AROC website. All enquiries
about credentialing and inclusion on the community assessor list should be emailed
to AROC at fim@uow.edu.au
Other
stakeholders seeking to engage a credentialed FIM or WeeFIM assessor should refer to
this list and liaise with the assessors directly.
Related downloads
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Care and Needs Scale (CANS)
The CANS is designed to measure the level of support needs of older adolescents and adults (16 years and older) with traumatic brain injury. The CANS is required for all adult participants and workers with a brain injury with every care needs review or plan.
For more information, download a copy of the Care and Needs Scale (CANS) Manual.
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Paediatric Care and Needs Scale (PCANS-2)
The PCANS-2 is designed to measure the types, extent and intensity of support needs of young people aged between 5 and 15 years who have an acquired brain injury. The PCANS-2 is required for all icare lifetime care participants aged 5-15 years on an annual basis.
For more information download a copy of the Paediatric Care and Needs Scale Version 2 (PCANS-2) Manual. We also have an information sheet with frequently asked questions.
To enhance accuracy of scoring and interpretation of results, we have developed the, ePCANS-2. This is a Microsoft Excel form and is compatible with Excel 2007 and 2010) and can be used on either a Windows PC or Apple Mac.
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American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale (ASIA) scale
The ASIA is a clinician-administered scale used to classify the severity (completeness) of injury in individuals with SCI. It identifies sensory and motor levels indicative of the highest spinal level demonstrating “unimpaired” function.
It is usually completed by a rehabilitation specialist or other specialist clinician.
The ASIA score sheet is contained within the Guidelines for levels of attendant care for people with spinal cord injury.
For more information, see the ASIA website.
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WHOQOL-Bref
The WHOQOL-BREF is the World Health Organisation (WHO) questionnaire for measuring quality of life for adults.
Where possible, we would like all adult icare lifetime care participants and workers in the icare workers care program to complete a WHOQOL-BREF annually.
Visit the World Health Organisation website for more information on WHOQOL-BREF.
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KINDL
The KINDL is a quality of life measure for children. There are different questionnaires for the child or parent (depending on the child’s age).
Visit the KINDL website for more information and to find KINDL questionnaires for children and parents.
KINDL Calculators:
Completing an assessment
To complete an assessment using one of these tools, download the relevant score sheet to record the outcomes of your assessment.
You can download a score sheet in the section above. Make sure you choose the right score sheet for the injury type and age of the injured person, particularly the tools where age norms apply such as WeeFIM, PCANS-2 and KINDL.
Training and workshops
We run a limited number of courses each year for FIM, WeeFIM, CANS and PCANS-2 assessment tools. For more information see our training and workshops page.
Lifetime Care training and workshops
Guidelines and resources
We have a range of clinical guidelines and associated resources to assist in making decisions and recommendations on the support needs of people with severe injuries.
Guidance on funding requests for complementary medicines
Guidance on the support needs of adults with spinal cord injury
The guidance is a best practice tool to inform and guide people involved in making decisions around why a person with a spinal cord injury needs assistance from support workers. The guidance can be used by people with spinal cord injury; their families and carers; health and rehabilitation professionals; attendant care providers; support workers; and funders. It includes a decision-making framework, information and resources.
You can view our guidance document digitally from the download options below.
Spinal cord injury – Emotional Wellbeing Toolkit for clinicians
The Agency for Clinical Innovation State Spinal Cord Injury Service has a toolkit to support clinicians in understanding and managing psychosocial issues associated with acute and long-term spinal cord injury.
It covers topics such as managing grief and trauma, common psychological and emotional issues experienced by people with a spinal cord injury, and ideas for handling challenging behaviours.
The toolkit is available on the ACI website.
