Current Trends in Occupational Therapy Service Delivery - Essay Example

Occupational Therapy Service Delivery Affiliation: Occupational therapy service delivery has always been providing great assistance to those seeking the services from the elderly to those with various forms of physical or even mental disabilities. It has however been focusing on treatment rather than prevention. The current trend in this field of service delivery has however been shifting towards health promotion and not only to those undergoing the occupational therapy but to the larger public as well. This is in line with the affordability care act which aims for people to reduce the cost spent on health care through promoting a value-based occupational therapy system. The impact will not only mean an increase in health promotion based on value rather than volume but it will make the work of occupational therapists easier, make their clients more self-reliant and teach the whole community how to handle occupational therapy for their members. It will also reduce the current burden and work load occupational therapists are having as the number of people requiring this form of therapy will have reduced drastically with the new trend (Jaffe & Johnson, 2014). Research from the British Journal of Occupational Therapy indicates that with the current trend in occupational therapy, old age people between the ages of 60 and 90 were able to be better. After being introduced to the health promotion program for a period of 8 months, they were able to have better cognition, reduce their levels of depression, were less functionally dependent and were generally able to increase their quality of life (Mountain, Mozley, Craig & Ball, 2008). The occupational therapist’s service delivery to these aged people was therefore lessened as they only had to minimally assist them. In line with these positive transformations, the occupational therapists are therefore able to have more time to handle other different types of clients as they are not tied down handling only a few clients. Research indicates that majority of the occupational therapy clients are old people who have developed various forms of disabilities such as in their hearing, seeing, walking and even in terms of memory. The journal article by Turcotte, Carrier, Desrosiers & Levasseur, (2015) indicates that the current trend in occupational therapy can be able to assist the old people to prevent developing these disabilities or be in a position to manage them better in case they have developed. By so doing, they will have reduced drastically the amount of money and even time they spend on seeking health care for their acquired disabilities. The occupational therapists in the health promotion program engage in different activities with the targeted population individually and even engage the rest of community or family (Scaffa & Reitz, 2013). These activities stimulate their body and mind and helps them remain healthy for longer, change their complex health conditions as well as prevent early onset of the disabilities. As mentioned above, the health care in many countries including the United States is undergoing changes and shifting to promotion and prevention rather than purely dealing with cure which tends to increase the costs of health. The occupational therapy current trend is in line with these changes in the health care sector and hence the reason it is focusing on promoting the health of its clients and potential clients and ensure that they do not end up spending a lot on health care specifically in occupational therapy on something that can be prevented before or even at its onset. This health promotion focuses on improving the health care experience of the targeted groups which translates to teaching them about ways to improve their health and get them to start utilizing these ways and activities through engaging in the health care experience and in the long run be able to promote their health and make care affordable to them and their families (Cason, 2015). This is also what is being referred to as the value-based health care system as it emphasizes on the value deduced from health promotion. Successful research on the value of health promotion in occupational therapy service delivery has already been conducted on people suffering from dementia as well as those with arthritis. In both cases, when health promotion not only to the particular individuals but to their families and the public at large was applied, it was discovered that the health care costs incurred by people with dementia reduced. Those sick were able to be managed much more easily and using less expensive measures and the onset of the disease was slowed down. The falls and injuries they were constantly suffering from were also reduced greatly as the occupational therapists taught them on independence and safety techniques and activities (McIntyre, 2014). The same self-management care as well as improving the motivation for physical activities for the sick was undertaken on the people suffering from arthritis who needed constant occupational therapy before the introduction of the health promotion trend (Mallinson, et al., 2009). With the numerous successes that have been established from the health promotion that has already been carried out on various targeted groups that are known to be at the top of the list of those requiring occupational therapy, this current trend can now start being established on the larger public as well purely as a preventive measure (Victoria, Alexa & Wilson, 2012). When the public is aware that they can be able to reduce their health costs through following certain advices and activities that will be shown to them by the occupational therapists, the trend will make a much greater impact than it currently is (Leland, et al. 2015). This will translate to occupational therapists having a lot of time to dedicate to their serious cases and pay more individualized attention as well as provide better care for their minimal number of clients with serious cases something that they have been unable to do prior to this trend. This current trend of health promotions in the field of occupational therapy service delivery is not only being established in the US but in other countries as well and has been gaining positive results as evidenced in the references made above and the positive results are expected to increase even more. References Cason, J. (2015, February). Telehealth and Occupational Therapy: Integral to the Triple Aim of Health Care Reform. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69: 1-8. Jaffe, E. & Johnson, J. (2014). Health Promotion and Preventive Programs: Models of Occupational Therapy Practice. New Jersey: Routledge. Leland, N. et al. (2015, Jan-Feb). Advancing the Value and Quality of Occupational Therapy in Health Service Delivery. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69(1): 1-7. Mallinson, T., Fischer, H., Rogers, J., Ehrlich-Jones, L. & Chang, R. (2009, September). The Issue is: Human Occupation for Public Health Promotion: New Directions for Occupational Therapy Practice with Persons with Arthritis. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(2): 220-226. McIntyre, M. (2014, September 3). Occupational therapy and falls prevention for people with dementia. Australian Journal of Dementia Care. Retrieved from http://journalofdementiacare.com/occupational-therapy-and-falls-prevention-for-people- with-dementia/ Mountain, G., Mozley, C., Craig, C. & Ball, L. (2008, October). Occupational Therapy Led Health Promotion for Older People: Feasibility of the Lifestyle Matters Programme. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 71(10): 406-413. Scaffa, M. & Reitz, M. (2013). Occupational Therapy Community-Based Practice Settings. New York: F. A. Davis. Turcotte, P., Carrier, A., Desrosiers, J. & Levasseur, M. (2015, February). Are health promotion and prevention interventions integrated into occupational therapy practice with older adults having disabilities? Insights from six community health settings in Québec, Canada. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal, 62(1): 56-67. Wilson, V., Alexa, A. & Wilson, L. (2012, October). Health promotion: Future occupational therapy in an ageing New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Occupational Therapy, 59(2): 36-38. Read More