Standards of Practice for Occupational Therapy.

This document defines minimum standards for the practice of occupational therapy. According to the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process (4th ed.; OTPF-4), occupational therapy is defined as the therapeutic use of everyday life occupations with persons, groups, or populations (i.e., the client) for the purpose of enhancing or enabling participation. . . . Occupational therapy services are provided for habilitation, rehabilitation, and promotion of health and wellness for clients with disability- and non-disability-related needs. These services include acquisition and preservation of occupational identity for clients who have or are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation, or participation restriction. (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2020c, p. 1).

Occupational Therapy in the Promotion of Health and Well-Being.

A balanced pattern of occupations enhances the health and fulfills the needs of individuals, families, communities, and populations (American Occupational Therapy Association [AOTA], 2014b; Hocking, 2019; Meyer, 1922). Occupations are personalized "everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families, and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life" (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2012, para. 2). The purpose of this statement is to describe occupational therapy's role and contribution in the areas of health promotion and prevention for internal and external audiences. AOTA supports and promotes the involvement of occupational therapy practitioners¹ in the development and delivery of programs and services that promote health, well-being, and social participation of all people.

Effectiveness of Occupational Therapy Interventions for Lower-Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Systematic Review.

Lower-extremity (LE) musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) can have a major impact on the ability to carry out daily activities. The effectiveness of interventions must be examined to enable occupational therapy practitioners to deliver the most appropriate services. This systematic review examined the literature published between 1995 and July 2014 that investigated the effectiveness of occupational therapy interventions for LE MSDs. Forty-three articles met the criteria and were reviewed. Occupational therapy interventions varied on the basis of population subgroup: hip fracture, LE joint replacement, LE amputation or limb loss, and nonsurgical osteoarthritis and pain. The results indicate an overall strong role for occupational therapy in treating clients with LE MSDs. Activity pacing is an effective intervention for nonsurgical LE MSDs, and multidisciplinary rehabilitation is effective for LE joint replacement and amputation. Further research on specific occupational therapy interventions in this important area is needed.