Many factors can limit someone’s mobility. Most large municipalities, including Montreal, Laval, and Longueuil, provide paratransit services for their residents to help them travel, even if they have functional disabilities.
To be eligible for this service, an individual must have received an evaluation from a health care professional as proof that their physical condition impedes their mobility. Let’s take a look at paratransit services and the required evaluation process.
What are the conditions that make someone eligible for paratransit services?
There are several types of disabilities that make someone require help to travel, such as:
- Physical disabilities: when someone always needs a wheelchair to move around, limited endurance for walking, balance problems, coordination problems, etc.
- Intellectual disabilities that can cause someone to lose track of time or their bearings
- A visual impairment that hinders someone from travelling safely without assistance
- A disease that limits someone’s ability to easily move around, for instance someone affected by heart or lung disease
- A disease that affects the judgment and/or ability of someone to know where they are, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
The above are only some of the main reasons for requesting paratransit services. It is important to understand that many other conditions can also impede someone’s mobility.
No matter the individual’s condition, an evaluation by a health care profession is required for requesting paratransit services.
Who can carry out this evaluation?
A health care professional must carry out an evaluation in order for the individual to apply for paratransit services. Which type of health care professional is required depends on the individual’s condition, but also on the municipality in which they reside.
In many cases, the evaluation can be done by an occupational therapist or a physical therapist. These are health care professionals who are specialized in helping their clients continue to carry out their daily activities despite a disability or physical limitation.
An occupational therapist and physical therapist can work with several types of clients. That’s why they are often the professionals who are best suited for this kind of evaluation.
What is the evaluation?
The professional who does the evaluation will have to assess several factors and these can vary depending on the municipality in which the client resides.
The professional must assess several points, including:
- The individual’s ability to move several hundred metres on an even surface, such as a paved parking lot for instance
- Their ability to climb or descend from a step of a predetermined height
- Their ability to make an entire trip using public transportation services
- Their ability to keep track of time and know where they are
- Their susceptibility to behave in a way that puts their safety at risk
- Their ability to communicate verbally or non-verbally
The occupational therapist or physical therapist is able to assess and evaluate the individual’s ability, or inability, to meet the above stated requirements. Once the evaluation form filled out, it must be sent to the right administrative bodies as indicated by the municipality. However, eligibility is determined by the paratransit service provider and they establish their own criteria. The professional simply observes and validates the functional abilities of the individual making the request.
Why contact Clinique GO™’s at-home occupational and physical therapy services?
Clinique GO™’s mobile occupational and physical therapy services allow individuals with mobility issues to obtain an evaluation without having to travel. In fact, Clinique GO™’s professionals will go to the location that suits their patient the most, such as their home, retirement home, convalescent home, etc.
Our professionals are used to filling out these kinds of forms. They will be able to support you throughout the process and answer any of your questions. An evaluation of eligibility for paratransit services by Clinique GO™’s professionals generally takes only 60 to 90 minutes. This includes the time spent filling out the section on the form reserved for the health care professional.
If you want to obtain an evaluation of eligibility for your municipality’s paratransit services, book an appointment with Clinique GO™’s team. You’ll avoid the hassle of travel and you won’t have to fill out any paperwork.
Approuvé par Francis Desjardins
