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Healthcare Goals

The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Triple Aim has, as the name implies, three main goals: improving the patient experience of care, improving the health of populations, and reducing the per capita cost of health care. Unfortunately, the United States doesn't score very well in the health care area, so I believe that these goals are worth the time and effort necessary to see them through to reality. Occupational Therapy certainly plays a role in each of these goals. One of OT's overarching themes is that it is client-centered, thus touching on the goal of improving patient experience. OTs also work in health promotion, or the use of discipline-specific techniques to assist people in achieving their health-related goals. OT's discipline-specific techniques would be occupations, or meaningful daily activities. OTs use client-centered occupations (what each individual wants/needs to be able to do in their daily routine), as well as adaptations to maximize the pursuit of health and quality of life for individuals, families, groups, communities, and populations. In relation to the last goal, a recent study found that increased spending on OT led to lower readmission rates for clients. This points to the cost-effectiveness of OT, and the unique perspective and benefit that OT brings to the table among all other healthcare disciplines.

Released by the  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services each decade, Healthy People 2020's vision is a society in which all people live long, healthy lives. Their mission is to identify health improvement priorities, such as increasing public awareness and understanding of determinants of health, disease, and disability, and to provide measurable objectives and goals. Healthy People 2020's website (healthypeople.org), provides specific, measurable objectives for varying aspects of health/health care, as well as tools and resources to help people make good more informed decisions regrading their health. These topics range from Diabetes, Cancer, Vision, Sleep Health, to Heart Disease and Stroke. OT also plays a role in the goals of Healthy People 2020, as we focus on a wide variety of health issues- including all of those listed above. The wide scope of practice that OT holds has significant potential to reach a vast array of clients, families, communities, and populations, which makes me so grateful to become a part of this profession.

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