How Occupational Therapy Helps You Stay at Home
Occupational therapists help older people keep doing the everyday things that matter, safely and with confidence. Our OTs visit you at home to see how you manage day to day and recommend practical changes.
- Home safety and falls risk: spotting hazards and making the home safer, day and night
- Bathroom and toilet: shower chairs, grab rails, over-toilet frames and step-free showers
- Equipment: walking aids, bed and chair raisers, kitchen aids and personal alarms
- Home modifications: rails, ramps and bathroom changes
- Daily living: easier ways to shower, dress, cook and manage the home
- Memory and routines: simple strategies and aids for people living with memory changes
- After hospital: getting the home ready and settling back in safely
- Carer support: safe transfers and ways to help without taking over
How Support at Home Funds OT
Under Support at Home, allied health services such as occupational therapy are clinical supports. Clinical supports are fully funded by the government, so there is no client contribution for your OT visits. They are paid from your Support at Home budget.
Already have a Support at Home plan? Ask your Support at Home provider to refer you to Exercare for occupational therapy. We work alongside registered providers, so you don't need to change provider to see us.
Waiting for your Support at Home assessment or budget? Contact us anyway. We'll be ready to book your first visit as soon as your funding is in place.
The AT-HM Scheme
Support at Home includes a separate Assistive Technology and Home Modifications (AT-HM) scheme, so equipment and home changes don't have to come out of your everyday budget. Funding is set in tiers:
Some items must be prescribed by a qualified health professional such as an occupational therapist. OT prescriptions and the support around them (such as fitting and training) are clinical supports, so there's no contribution for them. Our OTs assess what you need, trial options and write the prescription. About our equipment assessments →
How to Get Started
- Talk to your Support at Home provider, or contact us directly and we'll liaise with them.
- We confirm the referral and book your first home visit. No waitlist.
- Home assessment: your OT looks at how you manage day to day and what would help most.
- Recommendations and follow-up: equipment, home changes, strategies and AT-HM prescriptions where needed.
Also need exercise? Our exercise physiologist runs falls prevention and strength programs through Support at Home and can work alongside your OT. Support at Home exercise physiology →
Where We Provide Support at Home OT
Our occupational therapists visit clients at home across 302 Melbourne suburbs. Regular therapy covers suburbs within about a 30-minute drive of Templestowe Lower, from the north-east and east to the CBD, Clayton and Dandenong. Functional capacity assessments and other assessments are available across all our service areas.