People arrive at this trade and meet a wall of initials. Here is what each one actually does, and when to call which.
Occupational therapist (OT)
Assesses the person: what they can do, what they cannot, what is likely to change. Frequently visits the home and recommends both equipment and technique.
Where one is available, this is the most valuable assessment in the whole process, because it is the only one looking at the person rather than the building or the product. Their report is the best document you can hand a supplier or a builder.
Usually reached through a physician, a hospital discharge team or a home health agency.
CAPS, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist
Assesses the house, with training in modifying homes for people who intend to stay in them. A CAPS credential sits with builders, remodelers and specialists like us rather than with clinicians.
Call one when the question is what the building needs. We hold this credential, which is a statement of fact rather than an argument for hiring us.
ATP, Assistive Technology Professional
Assesses the equipment, particularly complex seating and mobility. Where a power chair needs tilt, recline, custom seating or alternative drive controls, an ATP is required rather than optional.
CRTS, Complex Rehab Technology Supplier, sits alongside it on the supplier side. Our equipment guide explains where the complex rehab line falls, and it is not a website purchase.
Driver rehabilitation specialist
Assesses fitness and equipment to drive, on the road, and recommends what is fitted. NHTSA’s adapted vehicles guidance is built around this happening before any equipment is chosen.
Frequently an OT with additional certification. Our driving guide covers what they recommend.
Who to call for what
- Somebody is struggling and nobody knows why or what to do: OT.
- The house is the problem: CAPS.
- A wheelchair or seating system: ATP or CRTS.
- Driving: driver rehabilitation specialist.
- A stairlift on a straight flight: honestly, a good supplier and a free survey.
That last one matters. Not everything needs a clinical assessment, and a company that insists on one for a grab bar is padding.
The thing to watch for
A credential is not a guarantee and the absence of one is not disqualifying. What matters is whether the person asks about the individual before recommending a product.
Our vetting guide covers the questions that reveal it, and they work on credentialed suppliers too.
What it costs
An OT assessment may be covered where it is part of a care plan. A CAPS survey from us is free. An ATP evaluation for complex rehab is part of the clinical process. A driver evaluation is usually paid privately or through vocational rehabilitation or the VA.
Smaller equipment needs none of them and ships free from our online shop.
What happens at each assessment
An OT home visit watches somebody do the things they actually do: get out of bed, reach the bathroom, make a drink, climb the stairs. It produces recommendations about both equipment and technique.
A CAPS survey measures the building: doorway widths, level changes, stair geometry, where power is, what the structure will take. It produces a scope and a cost.
An ATP evaluation measures the person for seating: posture, pressure risk, how they propel, how long they sit. It produces a specification.
A driver evaluation puts somebody in a vehicle, on the road, with an instructor. It produces a recommendation for equipment and training.
They overlap and they are not substitutes. A supplier survey does not replace an OT, and an OT does not measure your staircase.
If only one is available
Take the OT assessment. It is the only one looking at the person, and everything else follows more easily once somebody has described what the person can actually do. Our buying checklist covers what to put to a supplier afterward.
Physical therapists, briefly
Worth separating from OTs because the two get conflated. A physical therapist works on movement itself: strength, balance, gait, getting up stairs. An occupational therapist works on doing things: washing, dressing, cooking, navigating a house.
For equipment questions the OT is usually the one, and for the question of whether somebody can manage the stairs at all, the PT is.
How to get one involved
Through a physician referral, a hospital discharge team, a home health agency, or in some cases directly. An Area Agency on Aging will know what is available locally and how it is paid for.
That call is worth making before buying anything. Our discharge guide covers the version of this that happens under time pressure.
Second opinions are normal
If a recommendation does not match what you see at home, say so. Assessments happen in a clinic or in one visit, and the person having a good day in front of a professional may be having a different week.
Describing the bad days specifically is the most useful thing a family member contributes, and it frequently changes a recommendation.
What to bring to any assessment
A list of what has actually become difficult, written before the appointment. Not symptoms, tasks: getting out of bed, the stairs, the shower, standing from the toilet, walking to the car.
A note of what has already been tried and whether it helped. Photographs of the rooms in question. A list of medications, because several affect balance and that belongs in the conversation.
Appointments are short. A prepared list changes what comes out of one more than anything else.
Describe the bad days
The single most useful thing a family member contributes. Assessments happen on one day, frequently a good one, in front of somebody the person wants to appear capable in front of.
Saying plainly that three evenings a week they cannot manage the stairs at all changes a recommendation. Nobody is being disloyal by saying it.
Where credentials matter most
Complex seating is the clearest case. A power chair with tilt, recline or custom support is specified around a person’s posture, pressure risk and how long they sit, and getting it wrong causes real harm over months rather than inconvenience.
That work belongs with an ATP and a clinical team. It is not a website purchase and any supplier treating it as one is the wrong supplier. Our equipment guide explains where that line falls.
Where they matter least
A grab bar. A threshold ramp. A rollator sized properly. A straight stairlift on a straight flight for somebody who transfers easily.
Those need a competent supplier and a free survey, not a clinical pathway. A company that insists on an assessment for a grab bar is padding, and our vetting guide covers how to tell.
Disagreeing with a recommendation
Allowed, and normal. Say what does not match what you see at home and ask what the reasoning was. A good assessor will either explain something you had not considered or revise it.