Section 4.02. Scope of practice.

 

(1)  " Occupational therapy," as defined at s. 448.96 (5) , Stats., may include the following interventions:

(a) Remediation or restitution of performance abilities that are limited due to impairment in biological, physiological, psychological or neurological processes.

(b) Adaptation of task, process or environment, or the teaching of compensatory techniques, in order to enhance performance.

(c) Disability prevention methods and techniques which facilitate the development or safe application of performance skills.

(d) Health promotion strategies and practices which enhance performance abilities.

(2)  Occupational therapy interventions include the following:

(a) Screening, evaluating, developing, improving, sustaining, or restoring skills in activities of daily living, work or productive activities, instrumental activities of daily living, play, leisure activities, rest and sleep, education and social participation.

(b) Evaluating, developing, remediating, or restoring sensorimotor, sensoriperceptual neuromusculoskeletal, emotional regulation, cognition, communication, social skills, or psychosocial components of performance.

(c) Designing, fabricating or training in the use of assistive technology, upper extremity orthotic devices and lower extremity positioning orthotic devices.

(d) Training in the use of prosthetic devices, excluding gait training.

(e) Adaptation of environments and processes, including the application of ergonomic principles, to enhance performance and safety in daily life roles.

(f) Application of physical agent modalities. Application is performed by an experienced therapist with demonstrated and documented evidence of theoretical background, technical skill and competence.

(g) Evaluating and providing intervention and case management in collaboration with the client, family, caregiver or other involved individuals or professionals.

(h) Educating the client, family, caregiver, or others in carrying out appropriate nonskilled interventions.

(i) Consulting with groups, programs, organizations, or communities to provide population-based services.

(j) Therapeutic use of occupations, exercises, and activities.

(k) Training in self-care, self-management, health management and maintenance, home management, community work reintegration, and school activities and work performance.

(L) Therapeutic use of self, including one's personality, insights, perceptions and judgments, as part of the therapeutic process.

(m) Assessment, recommendation, and training in techniques to enhance functional mobility, including management of wheelchair and other mobility devices.

(n) Vision and low vision rehabilitation.

(o) Driver rehabilitation and community mobility.

(p) Management of feeding, eating, and swallowing to enable eating and feeding performance.

(q) Facilitating the occupational performance of groups, populations, or organizations through the modification of environments and adaptation processes.

(r) Use of a range of specific therapeutic procedures, including wound care management; techniques to enhance sensory, perceptual, and cognitive processing; and pain management, lymphedema management, and manual therapy techniques, to enhance performance skills.

History: CR 02-026 : cr. Register December 2002 No. 564 , eff. 1-1-03; CR 13-109 : am. (2) (intro.), (a), (b), cr. (2) (j) to (r) Register September 2014 No. 705 eff. 10-1-14; CR 15-053 : am. (2) (f) Register August 2016 No. 728 , eff. 9-1-16.

Note

A comprehensive list of occupational therapy interventions can be found in the Model Practice Act of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The AOTA may be contacted on the web at www.aota.org or by mail at American occupational therapy association, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 An example of standards for evaluating theoretical background, technical skill and competence is the position paper on physical agent modalities issued by the American occupational therapy association (AOTA). AOTA may be contacted on the web at www.aota.org , and by mail at American o ccupational t herapy a ssociation, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1