This course focuses on current and historical factors influencing the development of social and health care policies to promote overall awareness of the health care delivery system and processes, as well as selected health issues important to individual consumers and health care professionals. There will be special emphasis on the influence of political, economic, social, and cultural factors in the development of health and social policy. Themes that run throughout the course include the importance of understanding the interrelationships between politics, culture, socioeconomic status, health status, and health care delivery; cross-cultural comparisons; issues of quality, access, and cost; ethical dilemmas; legal concerns; and the need for health professionals to serve as activists within the wider social system.

Effective health and human services professionals use evidence from research to plan effective programs. This class introduces the theory of evidence-based practice and basic research principles. Students will engage with the American Psychological Association’s (APA) guidelines to writing and reporting evidence-based literature. Research types and levels (per AOTA) will be explored. Students write a research proposal supported by an extensive literature review on a topic related to occupational therapy.

This course builds a bridge from a students' general education to the work done in the health-care system. With the aim of preparing students for both professional life and graduate work, this course introduces interdisciplinary strategies for investigating provocative issues and for communicating to others about them. In this way, the course offers students time to learn and to practice more advanced skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Cultural awareness, health care literacy, collaboration, and communication will all be addressed with a health care systems focus. The course emphasizes fundamental principles of communication with time-on-task and real world, discipline-specific models for communication tasks. Appropriate forms of communication in a health care setting and clinical expectations for professionalism will be addressed.

Occupational therapy consumers find meaning in many activities of daily living, including play and leisure. Throughout this course, students will explore the roles play and leisure have in cognitive, physical, and social development in childhood, and health and wellness in adulthood. Students will learn play and leisure concepts, understand methods to use play and leisure activities for rehabilitation, and develop client-centered play and leisure activities to meet client goals.