Occupational therapy involves assessment and interventions to work or school, self-care, leisure or play, physical environments as well as cognitive, mental and physical components of function to enable individuals affected by physical injury or illness, developmental or learning disabilities, psychosocial dysfunctions or the aging process, to engage in everyday life occupations in order to maximise independent performance of life roles, prevent disability and maintain health.

The acts or activities constituting Occupational Therapy (or Ergomedicine or Ergotherapy) include, but are not limited to the following:

a) assess and identify problems in everyday life occupations, which impede the safe and effective performance of everyday activities; “everyday activities” being defined as activities necessary for self-care, being productive in work, school, homemaking or volunteering activities, play and leisure;

b) prescribe and carry out interventions to prevent, remedy or adapt to problems in performing everyday life occupations;

c) apply universal design principles to adapt physical environment and tools to enable everyday life occupations;

d) remediate or restore musculo-skeletal, neurological, cognitive, perceptual, behavioural and psychosocial deficits limiting everyday life occupations;

e) conduct of sensorimotor and neurobehavioural performance tests to screen infants and children for potential developmental delay;

f) assessment and remediation of activities of daily living, including management of toileting and personal hygiene, driver assessment and rehabilitation, and sexual rehabilitation following disabilities;

g) assessment and intervention for safe and independent community living;

h) fabrication of orthotic devices to protect or stretch tissues;

i) measurement and prescription of pressure garments to manage edema and scarring;

j) prescription and training in assistive technologies;

k) pre-vocational and vocational assessment and training