Functional Cognitive Assessments

CBS Health is a leading online brain health assessment tool used by healthcare practitioners worldwide. The assessment can accurately measure the 12 core elements of your client’s cognitive function, including memory, attention, reasoning, and verbal abilities, after an injury.

The tool allows you to measure baseline cognitive capacity and produce a reliable and scientifically valid assessment report that can be used to strengthen a personal injury claim. By comparing your client’s test results against others of a similar age, gender, occupation and educational background, our Occupational Therapist Nancy Stephenson, can provide you with insights into their post-injury capabilities

A sample CBS Health report is available here, and below are some examples of how CBS Health can be used to bolster a legal case:

Reasoning

Results can be extrapolated to provide specific information about how an injured worker may perform in the workplace. For example, a person who performs poorly on reasoning tasks may have difficulty processing information, making decisions, problem solving and reaching conclusions based on evidence. Working in a position which requires them to compare data and make rapid decisions will be difficult for these people.

Memory

Below average scores on memory tasks will affect a worker’s ability to retain information, learn new tasks and follow instructions. It could result in employers becoming frustrated that instructions need to be repeated and result in slowed productivity while workers check and re-check their work. It will mean that people may have difficulty studying because they cannot recall the content of lectures or retain information they have read.

Attention

If a person scores poorly on specific tasks relating to attention, they could be easily distracted by background noise or their pain levels. They may have difficulty concentrating and performing in environments where there is a lot of noise from machinery or other staff, such as call centres. They may have difficulty filtering out salient facts from general information.

Verbal

Low scores on verbal ability mean the injured worker could have difficulty understanding verbal instructions and communicating effectively with others. They may be better working in a job that does not require others and allows them to work in isolation.

How they work

Taking a CBS Health assessment is fast and simple, with no special hardware required. The tests are administered remotely by the OTML team and can be completed on a desktop, laptop or tablet computer in the comfort of your client’s own home or in the privacy of our clinical assessment rooms.

STEP ONE

We will send your client a personalised link via e-mail or schedule 30 minute in person appointment prior to their medico legal assessment with our Occupational Therapist Nancy Stephenson.

STEP TWO

Before your client begins they will be prompted to review instructions and details regarding the steps of the cognitive assessment, as well as how long the assessment will take.

STEP THREE

An interactive tutorial is deployed and can be repeated multiple times to ensure your client is comfortable with the task instructions. OTML is contactable by phone should assistance be required

STEP FOUR

Once the assessment is complete, a report will be generated and inserted into your client’s occupational therapy medico-legal assessment with supporting comparative data and medico-legal interpretation.

Ask us for a CBS Health test in your next Occupational Therapy report

The OTML team has experience conducting CBS Health cognitive assessments to assess and identify a person’s cognitive impairment. Our Occupational Therapist, Nancy Stephenson, uses CBS Health to inform many of her medico-legal reports.

“CBS Health provides me with confidence in being able to comment on cognitive barriers to returning to work or study and can also clarify specific deficits or highlight over-reporting of symptoms,” Nancy says.

Expert insight

Important note to our examinees: It is important to recognise that being referred for a cognitive assessment as part of your medico-legal consultation does not necessarily mean there is something wrong with the brain. The stress and strain of modern life can often lead to concentration difficulties and forgetfulness. However, an assessment is one way of checking that these everyday cognitive failures fall within acceptable limits. This is done by comparing your test results with others of similar age, gender, occupation, and educational background.