Occupational Therapy Practice and Scope with Pelvic Health
Articles & Evidence
Occupational Therapists (OTs) may practice and specialize as pelvic health practitioners and address pelvic floor dysfunction impact on all occupations for all persons across their lifespan. Pelvic health can support function of the bladder and bowels, sexuality and reproductive health, as well as musculoskeletal considerations of pelvic health. OTs can address conditions such as pelvic pain, sexual pain or dysfunction, urinary and other fecal incontinence, prolapse, dyspareunia, and more.
OTs address pelvic health through training in a Biopsychosocial approach addressing health and well-being through the understanding of overlapping factors in life such as biological components, mental or psychological, and considerations for a person's engagement in social contexts unique to them and their lifestyle. Through this lens, each person is treated holistically through individualized care.
Find out more through OT resources and articles listed below.
OT Practice Framework
Pelvic health can impact many if not most occupations as noted in the 4th Edition of the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, such activities of daily living such as toileting, functional mobility, and sexual activity. Pelvic health can also impact a person's ability to engage in social activities and leisure participation.
Through the OT scope of practice and OT process, OTs complete a comprehensive evaluation and then a plan of care/intervention plan in collaboration with the client and their personalized goals to address the client's pelvic health needs.
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). American Journal of Occupational
Therapy, 74(Suppl. 2), 7412410010. https://doi.
org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2021). Occupational therapy scope of practice. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(Suppl. 3), 7513410030. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2021.75S3005
Evidence in support of OT Pelvic Health
Hayden, C. (2018). When Chronic Pelvic Pain Symptoms Increase: Occupational Therapy Can Help Clients Reengage in Daily Occupations. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, November 2018, Vol. 72, 7211505152. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.72S1-PO7016
Akselrud, R., & Vestal, L. (2021). The role of occupational therapists in pelvic health: An interview with Lindsey Vestal. SIS Quarterly Practice Connections, 6(3), 12–14. https://www.aota.org/publications/sis-quarterly/home-community-health-sis/hchsis-8-21
Fyhrie, J.H., Le Fevre, E., Fruhauf, C.A., Weaver, J.A., & Schmid, AA. (2025). Identifying Occupational Therapists’ Perspectives on Their Unique Role in Pelvic Health Care. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research. doi:10.1177/15394492251359197
