Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aging and Sexual Health Lecture

While we have had a few lectures previously in occupational therapy school on the topic of sexual health, we had not had one that was as in-depth and focused on aging until this lecture. I think that the fact that this area is in the scope of practice of OT emphasizes the holistic view that occupational therapists take on their clients. There are very few other healthcare professionals that will address this topic with their clients, and while it might be a little difficult or awkward to discuss, I think it is very powerful that OTs can help clients in this area of their lives. One of the main things that I took away from this lecture was that sexual activity is beneficial for reducing stress, improving sleep, can boost immune system function and lifespan, and can also produce higher levels of cognitive functioning. When there are disruptions in this area of someone’s life, it can be difficult for them to reach out for help. However, sexual health is a key component i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mock Interview Reflection

To prepare for this mock interview, I read through a few common OT-related interview questions and thought through my answers. I was originally planning to type out my answers, but I decided instead to only list bullet points to reflect on so that I did not come across as too scripted/rehearsed. I recently interviewed for a level II fieldwork rotation at St. Jude, and I went more in depth to prepare for that than I did for this interview in particular. Because of this, I felt like I had a good foundation going into this interview. Overall, I felt like the interview went well. I was able to answer all the questions without too much hesitation, and I felt like I answered them sufficiently, although I could have gone more in depth in some answers. Something that went differently than I expected was that I talked faster than I normally do. I learned that it is okay to take a pause and think through my answer before speaking in order to provide a more in-depth and full ans...
Post a Comment
Read more

Me Before You

The movie Me Before You, available to stream on Amazon Video, follows a young man's journey after a devastating spinal cord injury. I chose this movie because I remembered seeing it when it came out a few years ago, but wanted to see this portrayal of life with a spinal cord injury through my "OT lens." I have learned a great deal about SCI since starting OT school, and I was curious to see what new things I noticed that I did not see when I watched the movie the first time. Will Trainer led a very active and spirited lifestyle before he was hit by a motorcycle while crossing the street one rainy day. I didn't catch if they said his exact injury level, there were a few inconsistencies that make it hard to say. Will was unable to feed himself, which would mean his injury level was at or above C5. However, he was unable to use his shoulders and arms at all (which would be C1-C4), yet able to use a power wheelchair by use of one hand (C8). They mentioned in the movie th...
Post a Comment
Read more