OT and Social Determinants of Health

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

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It’s no secret that our healthcare systems are built to react to sickness and health events—not to keep people healthy in the first place. 

If we want to get serious about producing health for our patients, we have to start shifting our healthcare system to address social determinants of health.  

But, how is such a seismic shift even possible—and what’s your role as an occupational therapy practitioner in this new era?

In this one hour course, we will look at a journal article with a proposal for mobilizing our hospital systems to address social determinants of health. 

Then, I am thrilled to be joined by Joy Doll, an OT who has been working on the front lines of addressing SDOH. She will share her insights into the movement that is already happening, and how occupational therapists can be involved.

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Getting serious about producing health

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Social and structural determinants of Health: Exploring Occupational therapy’s structural (in)competence
• Screening children for social determinants of health: A systematic review

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to recognize the categories of social determinants health & the foundational factor for addressing them. 
• You will be able to identify ways social determinants of health that can be addressed by OTs. 

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• What are social determinants of health
• The global problem of under-investment in SDOH
• The culpability of the healthcare industry
• How could hospitals actually produce health?
• How to build on the work that is already happening
• Addressing potential objections
• Conclusion
• Takeaways for OT practitioners

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (with Joy Doll) (50 minutes)

• Can you tell me how you first found OT?
• How did you become interested in social determinants of health?
• How do you personally describe social determinants of health to people?
• What were your initial impressions of the article?
• I loved the article, but wanted to argue with the premise that hospitals should be and must be the ones to lead us forward in this. Did you agree with this?
• The article outlines the Ten Teams. Do you know any hospitals with teams like the ones described?
• What can OTs who work in traditional settling be doing to get involved in addressing SDOH? 
• What do you see as possible avenues for OT to be involved in this work full-time- and how should OT interested in this get started?
• I think every OT should be following developments in our understanding of SDOH- where can we do that?

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT and Social Determinants of Health.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.  Our guest, Joy Doll, also has no financial disclosures. 

Speakers

Joy Doll, OTD, OTR/L, FNAP

Joy Doll is the Vice President of Community Programs for CyncHealth. Prior to joining CyncHealth, Joy served as the Inaugural Executive Director for establishing the Center for Interprofessional Education and Research (CIPER) where she was engaged with CHI Health to develop, establish and study an interprofessional clinical learning environment.  She was the Vice Chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions at Creighton University. During her time at the CU, she was also the director of a Post Professional OTD Program where she was responsible for recruitment and retention of students, managing student issues, and maintaining program excellence.

Currently, Joy is still an Associate Clinical Professor of Occupational Therapy at Creighton University where she gives guest lectures and designed a course on health informatics. She is author of the textbook Grant Writing and Program Development for Occupational Therapy Practitioners: Making the Connection and over 50 book chapters or peer reviewed journal publications. She is a sought after speaker including the 2018 TedX Talk entitled Cultivating Collaboration in Health Care: The Journey of an Accidental Expert. Joy earned her Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree in 2003 from Creighton University. In May 2022, she completed a miniMBA from University of Arizona as a recipient of the CommonSprit Equity Impact Scholarship. Read full bio.

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Requirements. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

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