Master of Arts in Health and Wellness (Life Design)

We conceive of all occupational therapists as life designers. Just as architects build homes, occupational therapists build lives to maximize health, productivity, and happiness. Life design involves creating a good match between a person and his or her environment to maximize overall wellbeing. One aspect of life design that was developed at USC is Lifestyle Redesign®, an innovative occupational therapy approach to prevention. Tested for its effectiveness in the landmark USC Well Elderly Study, the largest occupational therapy clinical trial ever conducted, Lifestyle Redesign® has proven to slow declines normally associated with aging and to improve health in the elderly. Currently, Division faculty members are taking the lead in adapting Lifestyle Redesign® to address major public health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer.