As used in this chapter:
(1) “Board” means the Kentucky Board of Licensure for Occupational Therapy appointed by the Governor;
(2) “Practice of occupational therapy” means the therapeutic use of purposeful and meaningful occupations (goal-directed activities) to evaluate and treat individuals who have a disease or disorder, impairment, activity limitation, or participation restriction that interferes with their ability to function independently in daily life roles, and to promote health and wellness. Occupational therapy intervention may include:
(a) Remediation or restoration, through goal-directed activities, of those performance abilities that are limited due to impairment in biological, physiological, or neurological processes;
(b) Adaptation of task, process, or the environment or the teaching of compensatory techniques to enhance performance;
(c) Disability prevention methods and techniques that facilitate the development or safe application of performance skills; and
(d) Health promotion strategies and practices that enhance performance abilities; (3) “Occupational therapist” means a person licensed to practice occupational therapy
under this chapter;
(4) “Occupational therapy assistant” means a person licensed to assist in the practice of occupational therapy under this chapter, who works under the supervision of an occupational therapist;
(5) “Aide” means a person who is not licensed by the board who provides supportive services to occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. An aide shall function under the guidance and responsibility of a licensed occupational therapist and is supervised by an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant for specifically selected routine tasks for which the aide has been trained and has demonstrated competence. The aide shall comply with supervision requirements developed by the board that are consistent with prevailing professional standards;
(6) “Occupational therapy services” include but are not limited to:
(a) Evaluating, developing, improving, sustaining, or restoring skills in basic and instrumental activities of daily living (BADLs and IADLs), work or productive activities, and play and leisure activities;
(b) Evaluating, developing, remediating, or restoring components of performance as they relate to sensorimotor, cognitive, or psychosocial aspects;
(c) Designing, fabricating, applying, and training in the use of assistive technology or orthotic devices and training in the use of prosthetic devices for functional mobility and activities of daily living;
(d) Adapting environments and processes, including the application of ergonomic principles, to enhance performance and safety in daily life roles;
(e) Applying superficial physical agent modalities as an adjunct to or in
preparation for engagement in occupations;
(f) Applying deep physical agent modalities as an adjunct to or in preparation for engagement in occupations, in accordance with KRS § 319A.080;
(g) Evaluating and providing intervention in collaboration with the client, family, caregiver, or others;
(h) Educating the client, family, caregiver, or others in carrying out appropriate nonskilled interventions; and
(i) Consulting with groups, programs, organizations, or communities to provide population-based services;
(7) “Person” means any individual, partnership, or unincorporated organization, or corporation;
(8) “Deep physical agent modalities” means any device that uses sound waves or agents which supply or induce an electric current through the body, which make the body a part of the circuit, including iontophoresis units with a physician’s prescription, ultrasound, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation units and functional electrical stimulation, or microcurrent devices; and
(9) “Superficial physical agent modalities” means hot packs, cold packs, ice, fluidotherapy, paraffin, water, and other commercially available superficial heating and cooling devices.
Effective: July 15, 2002
History: Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 14, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002. — Amended
1994 Ky. Acts ch. 405, sec. 84, effective July 15, 1994. — Amended 1988 Ky. Acts ch. 311, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1988. — Created 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 78, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1986.