How is occupational therapy defined in Michigan?

"Practice of occupational therapy" means the therapeutic use of everyday life occupations and occupational therapy services to aid individuals or groups to participate in meaningful roles and situations in the home, school, workplace, community, and other settings, to promote health and wellness through research and practice, and to serve those individuals or groups who have or are at risk for developing an illness, injury, disease, disorder, condition, impairment, disability, activity limitation, or participation restriction.

The practice of occupational therapy addresses the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, sensory, and other aspects of performance in a variety of contexts to support engagement in everyday life activities that affect a person's health, well-being, and quality of life throughout his or her life span.

What is included in the practice of occupational therapy?

"Occupational therapy services" means those services provided to promote health and wellness, prevent disability, preserve functional capabilities, prevent barriers, and enable or improve performance in everyday activities, including, but not limited to, the following:

Establishment, remediation, or restoration of a skill or ability that is impaired or not yet developed.

Compensation, modification, or adaptation of a person, activity, or environment.

Evaluation of factors that affect activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, and other activities relating to education, work, play, leisure, and social participation. Those factors include, but are not limited to, body functions, body structure, habits, routines, role performance, behavior patterns, sensory motor skills, cognitive skills, communication and interaction skills, and cultural, physical, psychosocial, spiritual, developmental, environmental, and socioeconomic contexts and activities that affect performance.

Interventions and procedures, including, but not limited to, any of the following:

• Task analysis and therapeutic use of occupations, exercises, and activities.
• Training in self-care, self-management, home management, and community or work reintegration.
• Development remediation, or compensation of client factors such as body functions and body structure.
• Education and training.
• Care coordination, case management, transition, and consultative services.
• Modification of environments and adaptation processes such as the application of ergonomic and safety principles.
• Assessment, design, fabrication, application, fitting, and training in rehabilitative and assistive technology, adaptive devices, and low temperature orthotic devices, and training in the use of prosthetic devices. For the purposes of this sub-subparagraph, the design and fabrication of low temperature orthotic devices does not include permanent orthotics.
• Assessment, recommendation, and training in techniques to enhance safety, functional mobility, and community mobility such as wheelchair management and mobility.
• Management of feeding, eating, and swallowing.
• Application of physical agent modalities and use of a range of specific therapeutic procedures, including, but not limited to, techniques to enhance sensory-motor, perceptual, and cognitive processing, manual therapy techniques, and adjunctive and preparatory activities.
• Providing vision therapy services or low vision rehabilitation services, if those services are provided pursuant to a referral or prescription from, or under the supervision or co-management of, a physician licensed under part 170 or 175 or an optometrist licensed under part 174.

What is specifically excluded from the practice?

The practice of occupational therapy does not include any of the following:

• The practice of medicine or osteopathic medicine and surgery or medical diagnosis or treatment.
• The practice of physical therapy
• The practice of optometry.

Are there any special trainings or requirements?

N/A

Reference

Mich. Comp. Laws § 333.18301