I can measure life skills as related to mental illness

In order to be eligible for the NDIS, you need to show you have substantially reduced functional capacity. The Life Skills Profile, or LSP-16, is a tool used by the NDIA to measure functional capacity.

You will see that the LSP-16 is for a support worker to fill in and the NDIA prefer it to be completed by someone who has done training. Even if your support worker hasn’t done the training, it is useful for them fill in.

This tool will help you to better understand how your mental health impacts your day-to-day life, and whether the impact is substantial enough for you to be eligible for the NDIS.

Some of the questions are quite confronting, so it is good to have someone with you when you read back through your support worker’s responses.

Other tools that can help include the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS). More details on these tools can be found in Project This should read: Embark’s resource I Can Help People Join the NDIS.

To answer these questions, your support worker should think about how you have been in the past three months.

Download table here.

1. Does this person generally have any difficulty with initiating and responding to conversation?
2. Does this person generally withdraw from social contact?
3. Does this person generally show warmth to others?
4. Is this person generally well groomed (e.g. neatly dressed, hair combed)?
5. Does this person wear clean clothes generally or ensure that they are cleaned if dirty?
6. Does this person generally neglect her or his physical health?
7. Is this person violent to others?
8. Does this person generally make and/or keep up friendships?
9. Does this person generally maintain an adequate diet?
10. Does this person generally look after and take her or his own prescribed medication (or attend for prescribed injections on time) without reminding?
11. Is this person willing to take psychiatric medication when prescribed by a doctor?
12. Does this person co-operate with health services (e.g. doctors and/or other health workers)?
13. Does this person generally have problems (e.g. friction, avoidance) living with others in the household?
14. Does this person behave offensively (includes sexual behaviour)
15. Does this person behave irresponsibly?
16. What sort of work is this person generally capable of (even if unemployed, retired or doing unpaid domestic duties)?
0
No difficulty
Does not withdraw at all
Considerable warmth
Well groomed
Maintains cleanliness of clothes
No neglect
Not at all
Friendships made or kept up well
No problem
Reliable with medication
Always
Always
No obvious problem
Not at all
Not at all
Capable of full time work
1
Slight difficulty
Withdraws slightly
Moderate warmth
Moderately well groomed
Moderate cleanliness of clothes
Slight neglect of physical problems
Rarely
Friendships made or kept up with slight difficulty
Slight problem
Slightly unreliable
Usually
Usually
Slight problems
Rarely
Rarely
Capable of part time work
2
Moderate difficulty
Withdraws moderately
Slight warmth
Poorly groomed
Poor cleanliness of clothes
Moderate neglect of physical problems
Occasionally
Friendships made or kept up with considerable difficulty
Moderate problem
Moderately unreliable
Rarely
Rarely
Moderate problems
Occasionally
Occasionally
Capable only of sheltered work
3
Extreme difficulty
Withdraws totally or near totally
No warmth at all
Extremely poorly groomed
Very poor cleanliness of clothes
Extreme neglect of physical problems
Often
No friendships made or none kept
Extreme problem
Extremely unreliable
Never
Never
Extreme problems
Often
Often
Totally incapable of work