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Assistance Levels

This page contains reusable assistance level lists that therapy companies can copy and paste into their own RehabAlpha schemas.

Assistance levels are commonly used in:

  • Transfers
  • Bed mobility
  • Gait
  • Toileting
  • Dressing
  • Feeding
  • Section GG-style documentation
  • Functional mobility sections
  • ADL and self-care sections

If you find yourself typing the same options over and over again, create an options once and reference it from multiple inputs.

When should I use an options?​

Use an options when:

  • the same list will be reused in multiple places
  • you want to keep your schema organized
  • you want to update one shared list instead of editing many separate inputs

For example, instead of writing the same assistance levels directly inside 8 different selectInput nodes, you can define the list once and reference it by ID.

Example 1: Basic Assistance Levels​

This is a simple, general-purpose assistance level list that works well for many therapy workflows.

{
  id: "assistance_levels",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    "Independent",
    "Supervision",
    "Min Assist",
    "Mod Assist",
    "Max Assist",
    "Dependent"
  ]
}

Common use cases​

  • general mobility documentation
  • transfer assistance
  • dressing assistance
  • toileting assistance
  • feeding assistance

Example 2: Assistance Levels with Full Labels and Stored Values​

This version uses { label, value } objects. It is useful when you want the UI label to be friendly, but you want the saved values to remain short and standardized.

{
  id: "assistance_levels_structured",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    { label: "Independent", value: "independent" },
    { label: "Supervision", value: "supervision" },
    { label: "Minimal Assistance", value: "min_assist" },
    { label: "Moderate Assistance", value: "mod_assist" },
    { label: "Maximum Assistance", value: "max_assist" },
    { label: "Dependent", value: "dependent" }
  ]
}

Why use this version?​

Use structured options when you want:

  • cleaner internal values
  • stable saved data
  • shorter IDs for reporting or downstream logic
  • more control over display text

Example 3: Expanded Assistance Levels​

Some organizations prefer a more detailed scale.

{
  id: "expanded_assistance_levels",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    "Independent",
    "Setup / Cleanup Assistance",
    "Supervision / Touching Assistance",
    "Partial / Moderate Assistance",
    "Substantial / Maximum Assistance",
    "Dependent"
  ]
}

This version is helpful when your organization wants terminology closer to standardized functional language.

Example 4: Assistance Levels with Not Applicable Options​

Sometimes the clinician also needs to indicate that the task was not attempted or does not apply.

{
  id: "assistance_levels_with_na",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    "Independent",
    "Supervision",
    "Min Assist",
    "Mod Assist",
    "Max Assist",
    "Dependent",
    "Not Attempted",
    "Not Applicable"
  ]
}

This is useful for:

  • evaluations
  • incomplete sessions
  • medically limited tasks
  • activities the patient does not perform

Using the list in an input​

Once you define an options, you can reference it from radioInput, selectInput, or multiSelectInput.

Example: Transfer assistance dropdown​

{
  id: "transfer_assistance",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Transfer Assistance Level",
  options: "assistance_levels",
  placeholder: "Select a level..."
}

Example: Bed mobility radio buttons​

{
  id: "bed_mobility_level",
  type: "radioInput",
  label: "Bed Mobility Assistance Level",
  options: "assistance_levels",
  flavor: "buttons",
  layout: "column"
}

Copy/paste example: reusable list plus multiple fields​

Here is a full example showing one shared assistance level list used across several fields.

{
  id: "assistance_levels",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    "Independent",
    "Supervision",
    "Min Assist",
    "Mod Assist",
    "Max Assist",
    "Dependent"
  ]
},
{
  id: "mobility_template",
  type: "template",
  label: "Mobility Assistance",
  appliesTo: "evaluation",
  children: [
    "transfer_level",
    "bed_mobility_level",
    "gait_level"
  ]
},
{
  id: "transfer_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Transfer Assistance Level",
  options: "assistance_levels",
  placeholder: "Select a level..."
},
{
  id: "bed_mobility_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Bed Mobility Assistance Level",
  options: "assistance_levels",
  placeholder: "Select a level..."
},
{
  id: "gait_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Gait Assistance Level",
  options: "assistance_levels",
  placeholder: "Select a level..."
}

PT example​

A Physical Therapist may want to use assistance levels for transfers, gait, stairs, and bed mobility.

{
  id: "pt_assistance_levels",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    "Independent",
    "Supervision",
    "Contact Guard Assist",
    "Min Assist",
    "Mod Assist",
    "Max Assist",
    "Dependent"
  ]
},
{
  id: "pt_function_template",
  type: "template",
  label: "PT Functional Mobility",
  appliesTo: "evaluation",
  children: [
    "pt_transfer_level",
    "pt_gait_level",
    "pt_stairs_level"
  ]
},
{
  id: "pt_transfer_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Transfers",
  options: "pt_assistance_levels"
},
{
  id: "pt_gait_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Gait",
  options: "pt_assistance_levels"
},
{
  id: "pt_stairs_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Stairs",
  options: "pt_assistance_levels"
}

OT example​

An Occupational Therapist may want to use assistance levels for ADLs and self-care tasks.

{
  id: "ot_assistance_levels",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    "Independent",
    "Supervision",
    "Min Assist",
    "Mod Assist",
    "Max Assist",
    "Dependent"
  ]
},
{
  id: "ot_adl_template",
  type: "template",
  label: "OT ADL Assistance",
  appliesTo: "evaluation",
  children: [
    "dressing_upper_level",
    "dressing_lower_level",
    "toileting_level",
    "feeding_level"
  ]
},
{
  id: "dressing_upper_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Upper Body Dressing",
  options: "ot_assistance_levels"
},
{
  id: "dressing_lower_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Lower Body Dressing",
  options: "ot_assistance_levels"
},
{
  id: "toileting_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Toileting",
  options: "ot_assistance_levels"
},
{
  id: "feeding_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Feeding",
  options: "ot_assistance_levels"
}

Section GG-style example​

Some organizations want wording that more closely resembles standardized functional scoring language.

{
  id: "section_gg_assistance_levels",
  type: "options",
  items: [
    { label: "06 - Independent", value: "06" },
    { label: "05 - Setup or clean-up assistance", value: "05" },
    { label: "04 - Supervision or touching assistance", value: "04" },
    { label: "03 - Partial/moderate assistance", value: "03" },
    { label: "02 - Substantial/maximal assistance", value: "02" },
    { label: "01 - Dependent", value: "01" },
    { label: "07 - Patient refused", value: "07" },
    { label: "09 - Not applicable", value: "09" },
    { label: "10 - Not attempted due to environmental limitations", value: "10" },
    { label: "88 - Not attempted due to medical condition or safety concerns", value: "88" }
  ]
}

Important note about Section GG​

This snippet is useful as a schema building block, but your organization should verify that the exact labels, coding choices, and workflow match your operational and regulatory needs before relying on it in production documentation.

Choosing the right version​

Use this quick guide:

  • Basic Assistance Levels: best for most organizations
  • Structured Assistance Levels: best when you want clean saved values
  • Expanded Assistance Levels: best when you want more formal functional wording
  • With Not Attempted / Not Applicable: best for evaluation workflows and incomplete tasks
  • Section GG-style: best when you want more standardized functional scoring language

Naming tips​

Try to name your lists clearly so they are easy to reuse later.

Good examples:

  • assistance_levels
  • pt_assistance_levels
  • ot_adl_assistance_levels
  • section_gg_assistance_levels

Avoid vague IDs like:

  • options1
  • list_a
  • stuff

Common mistakes​

1. Repeating the same list in many places​

This works, but it becomes harder to maintain later.

Instead of this:

{
  id: "transfer_level",
  type: "selectInput",
  label: "Transfers",
  options: ["Independent", "Supervision", "Min Assist", "Mod Assist", "Max Assist", "Dependent"]
}

and then repeating the same array again and again, prefer a shared options.

2. Using different wording for the same concept​

For example, avoid mixing:

  • "Min Assist"
  • "Minimal Assistance"
  • "Min A"

unless you have a specific reason. Pick one convention and stay consistent.

3. Saving display labels when you really want standardized values​

If your team wants reporting consistency, use structured options like:

{ label: "Minimal Assistance", value: "min_assist" }

instead of storing many slightly different text variants.

You may also want to build related pages for:

  • Body Regions
  • Precautions
  • Gait Devices
  • Diet Textures
  • Symptoms
  • Patient Positions
  • Transfers
  • Bed Mobility
  • ADLs

Next step​

After adding this page, a good next companion article would be:

  • lists/body-regions.md
  • lists/patient-positions.md
  • sections/transfers.md

These pages pair naturally with assistance level lists.