Functional Capacity Evaluations can provide valuable information when completing a Transferable Skills Analysis. Yet a practical question has continued to come up in conversations with vocational rehabilitation professionals:

Who should translate the physical findings from an FCE into OaSIS ratings?

It sounds straightforward until you try to do it.

An FCE may tell us about lifting, endurance, balance, dexterity, sitting, standing, walking and other aspects of physical function. OaSIS describes occupational requirements using its own Physical Abilities and Work Activities descriptors.

To use the FCE findings in vocational analysis, someone needs to determine how the clinical findings relate to those OaSIS descriptors and, where applicable, the Canadian Rating Guide (CRG).

For vocational rehabilitation professionals who are not trained to interpret physical assessment findings, that can create an uncomfortable situation.

The problem we were trying to solve

This issue emerged through discussions with vocational rehabilitation professionals about using OaSIS in practice.

The concern was reasonable.

A vocational rehabilitation professional may understand the vocational implications of an FCE report without having the clinical background required to independently interpret physical assessment findings.

At the same time, the FCE provider may have the clinical expertise to make that interpretation, yet may not routinely work with OaSIS or the Canadian Rating Guide.

This can leave the vocational professional trying to make a connection between two different types of information.

Rather than asking the vocational rehabilitation professional to make a clinical interpretation outside their area of expertise, we asked a different question:

Could we make it easier for the FCE provider to translate their own findings into OaSIS terminology?

That question led to the development of a new resource:

Guidance for Functional Capacity Evaluators: Using OaSIS Physical Descriptors to Support Transferable Skills Analysis.

What the resource does

The resource is designed to be provided to the FCE assessor.

It explains how selected OaSIS Physical Abilities and Work Activities can be considered in relation to the client's demonstrated functional capacity.

Importantly, the form does not replace the Functional Capacity Evaluation report. It provides an additional, concise way for the assessor to communicate their professional opinion using terminology that can then be incorporated into vocational analysis.

The guidance asks the assessor to consider the whole FCE, including factors such as:

• standardized test results
• clinical observations
• quality of movement
• consistency of effort
• symptom response
• fatigue and endurance
• safety
• other relevant clinical findings

The ratings are intended to represent safe, demonstrated and sustainable performance over a typical workday, rather than a maximum one-time effort.

That distinction is particularly important when the information will ultimately be used to consider realistic occupational options.

Why we selected a smaller group of OaSIS descriptors

OaSIS contains many descriptors. Asking an FCE provider to rate every potentially relevant physical descriptor would make the form unnecessarily cumbersome.

Instead, we selected a group of Physical Abilities and Work Activities that are commonly relevant to vocational rehabilitation.

The Physical Abilities include areas such as static strength, dynamic strength, gross body equilibrium, stamina and dexterity. The Work Activities include bending or twisting, climbing, handling materials manually, balance, repetitive motions, sitting, standing, and walking or running.

This is intentionally a starting point, not an exhaustive list.

If another OaSIS descriptor is particularly important for an individual client or referral question, the vocational rehabilitation professional can ask the FCE provider to consider that descriptor as well. The relevant CRG information can be provided with the request.

This keeps the process manageable while allowing it to remain client-specific.

About CRG ratings

One of the challenges in using OaSIS is understanding what the Canadian Rating Guide levels actually mean.

Level 1 through Level 5 do not have one universal meaning that can be applied across all OaSIS descriptors.

Each descriptor has its own definition and rating criteria. Depending on the descriptor, the levels may reflect different characteristics such as intensity, endurance, coordination, precision or frequency.

For that reason, the guidance uses the official Level 1 to Level 5 ratings and asks the FCE provider to consider the definition and rating criteria for the individual descriptor alongside the client's demonstrated performance and their own clinical judgement.

There is another important distinction.

The selected Physical Abilities are rated using the CRG definitions specific to each descriptor. The selected Work Activities, such as sitting and standing, are rated according to how long the activity can be safely and consistently performed during a typical workday.

The resource provides instructions for both.

Keeping professional roles clear

Perhaps the most important part of this approach is that it does not transfer responsibility for the vocational analysis to the FCE provider.

The FCE assessor provides a professional opinion about the client's physical abilities.

The vocational rehabilitation professional then considers that information alongside the other evidence relevant to the assessment, including:

• medical information
• client interview
• education and training
• work history
• transferable skills
• labour market information
• other relevant clinical information

The final vocational opinion remains with the vocational rehabilitation professional.

I think this division of responsibilities makes sense. Each professional contributes the interpretation that falls within their own expertise, while the vocational rehabilitation professional brings the information together to consider realistic vocational options.

Download the free FCE and OaSIS resource

I am making Guidance for Functional Capacity Evaluators: Using OaSIS Physical Descriptors to Support Transferable Skills Analysis available as a free download.

If you receive Functional Capacity Evaluations as part of your vocational rehabilitation work, you can provide the form and guidance to the FCE assessor when requesting information for a Transferable Skills Analysis.

Download the free FCE and OaSIS Guidance and Rating Form

I would also be interested to hear how other vocational rehabilitation professionals are approaching this issue.

When you receive an FCE, how are you currently translating the physical findings into OaSIS descriptors for vocational analysis?