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If I Ran the Nevada Health Authority… We’d Put OT in the Community Care Driver’s Seat ♿️

By: Matt Brandenburg, OTD, OTR/L

You ever notice… how every big, shiny community health initiative in Nevada is bursting with buzzwords like “whole person care,” “care coordination,” and “population health”? Yet somehow, occupational therapy (despite rolling out whole-person care frameworks like they’re Bravo spin-offs since the 1940s) gets left out of the conversation.

Take Comagine Health’s Southern Nevada Pathways Community Hub. They run a Pathways Community HUB Institute (PCHI) certified care-coordination network that trains and supports community health workers (CHWs) across contracted agencies to tackle health-related social needs with 21 standardized “Pathways.” In English: they connect high-risk residents to the right help and make sure the loop gets closed. They’ve published early maternal-health pilot outcomes and, as of July 23, 2025, earned full national certification from the PCHI. Sounds pretty great right? Whole-person care? ✅ Community-based delivery? ✅ Track record improving maternal health, care coordination, and addressing social determinants of health? ✅✅✅

And yet… not a single OT involved.

If I Ran the Nevada Health Authority, we’d finally hand occupational therapy community health’s lead role. Because babe, whole-person, community-based care without OT? That’s like Vanderpump Rules without messy brunch fights. Sure, it might look and sound pretty, but it’s missing the guiding light (aka evidenced backed theory like PEO, MOHO, EHP, etc.) that makes it work. When OT steps in, it’s not about pouring another round of buzzwords, it’s about turning “community health” into safer homes, fewer falls, empowered caregivers, and real independence for Nevadans. 

Exhibit A: AOTA Already Handed Us the Playbook…Kind of

The American Occupational Therapy Association offers community-based service resources including toolkits, a special interest section, and a link to their selection as a Healthy People 2030 Champion (how helpful…). The problem? It feels like they left these resources sitting on a coffee table next to a scented candle where Comagine, PCHI, and community health movements across the nation will never see them. Toolkits and badges don’t move policy, boots-on-the-ground OT practitioners (OTP) do. We need systems level influence that ensures the essential community services we provide are not ignored by policy makers and are reimbursed appropriately. 

It’s time to move from “resource library” to “real-world leverage.” That means showing Comagine, the Nevada Health Authority, Nevada Medicaid, and anyone else who will listen (looking at you Nevada Center for Excellence in Disabilities, and Nevada State Office for Rural Health) exactly how OTPs improve community health by:

• Evaluating and designing community and primary care programs

• Embedding in chronic disease self-management programs and reducing hospital readmissions 

• Leading fall prevention and injury reduction initiatives that keep people safely in their homes

• Coordinatinghome modificationsand accessibility upgrades that extend independence

• Running caregiver training programs that turn theory into lasting daily routines

• Addressing health-related social needs with interventions tailored to each person’s real life

• Leading case management and care coordinationthat keeps high-risk clients from getting lost between settings

These aren’t just nice-to-have services, they’re essential infrastructure for a healthier Nevada. And it’s time we claim our role as the profession that delivers them best.

Exhibit B: The Center of Excellence Is begging for OT, they just don’t know it

The Center of Excellence to Align Health and Social Care lays out clear standards for what a Community Care Hub should be (standards that occupational therapy has been living and breathing for centuries btw):

• Addressing health-related social needs and behavioral health alongside clinical care

• Coordinating services across sectors and providers

• Measuring impact in terms of function, participation, and independence (our bread and butter)

• Delivering services in the community, not just in clinics or hospitals

Honestly, if the Center had called us first, they could’ve saved themselves a few white papers and a couple thousand lattes at their stakeholder meetings. If I Ran the Nevada Health Authority, I’d position NOTA as the roadmapfor integrating OTPs into these hubs statewide. That starts with drafting an OT-specific approach to care aligned to the Center’s standards, then inviting OTPs across Nevada to sharpen it with their expertise and frontline experience.

The end goal? A ready-to-launch, evidence-backed, OT-led model for community health. A model that funders, policymakers, and care hubs can plug into without reinventing the wheel.

Exhibit C: Partnering with the Pros Who Are Already Changing the Game

Comagine Health’s Southern Nevada Pathways Community Hub is already redefining how healthcare and social services work together. They’ve built the infrastructure and partnerships to support cross-sector care. But it’s occupational therapy practitioners who bring the real life trust, earned in homes, clinics, and communities across Nevada, that can amplify the Hub’s reach and impact.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, NOTA should position itself as Comagine’s go-to partner for expanding whole-person care into daily life. That means:

• Embedding OTPs in care coordination, case management, and consultation teams to address functional and environmental needs

• Using OTP’s expertise to close gaps in chronic disease management, fall prevention, behavioral health, and return-to-work programs

• Bringing data on OT-led outcomes that strengthen Comagine’s case for continued and expanded funding

• Co-developing pilot programs that showcase how OT interventions can improve hub performance metrics and community impact

• Leveraging university partnerships for capstones, outcome research, and student fieldwork

With Comagine running the operations and OT running the day-to-day magic, Nevada’s community care hubs could pop up faster than Lisa Vanderpump can open another pink-velvet cocktail lounge.

Nevada could set the national standard for integrating functional health into community care models.

My Proposal: From Resources to Real-World Impact

If I were running the Nevada Health Authority’s OT strategy, I’d role out the following policy plan like a glow-up montage:

🔥 Launch the “OT in Every Hub” Campaign – Advocate for every statewide care coordination network (Comagine’s Southern Nevada Pathways Community Hub is the only one so far) to have OTPs in leadership and service delivery roles. If Nevada can put a slot machine in every gas station, why not put an OT in every care hub?

🔥 Roll Out the AOTA Resource Roadshow – Take AOTA’s community-based services toolkits, Healthy People 2030 Champion status, and case examples on the road. Encourage (and entice) OTPs across Nevada to spread the word about how AMAZING their clinical approach to care is and to use it to grow caseloads, prove outcomes, and influence policy.

🔥 Partner with Comagine on High-Impact Pilot studies – Embed OTPs into existing hub programs for chronic disease self-management, fall prevention, home modification, and caregiver training, then collect and publish the data to prove value and scalability.

🔥 Build the “Nevada Model” Playbook – Document our approach so other states can follow it, positioning Nevada as the national example for integrating OT into community health infrastructure.

🔥 Create a Feedback Loop with Nevada OTPs – Develop and circulate a draft OT approach to care aligned with the Center of Excellence to Align Health and Social Care, then invite every OTP in the state to help refine it before rolling it out.

In Closing:
OT isn’t just another line item in the care plan and we’re not just the glue that holds “whole person care” together. We’re the glitter glue. Flashy, functional, and impossible to ignore once you’ve seen it. 

We’re the profession that turns hospital discharge summaries into sustainable Tuesday morning routines, that makes sure a “safe home” is actually livable, and that translates big policy ideas into the real-life moments where health happens.

Nevada’s community health future won’t be built by whoever drops the flashiest buzzword PowerPoint. It’ll be built by the folks who can translate ‘whole person care’ into effective and sustainable community health practices. Instead of buzzwords, it’s someone actually remembering to take their meds, or not breaking a hip in the middle of the night. That’s OT. We don’t need to audition for the part, we’re already the main character. Time to act like it. 

So let’s stop waiting to be discovered and embrace our opportunity as the new bombshell entering the Nevada community health villa. Let’s walk in with our elevator pitch memorized, our outcomes data polished, and our sleeves rolled up. Are you ready to build the healthiest, most function-focused state in the nation?

Because here’s the truth:
We’ve been doing “whole person care” since before it had a name.
We’ve been solving the problems policymakers are just now learning to talk about.
We’re not here for a cameo. We’re here to star in Nevada’s health story. 

Because “Babe, we were born cool.” And don’t you forget it. 

Sincerely,

Your Vice President of Making Occupational Therapy Cool Again (VPOMOTCA) in waiting 

Matt Brandenburg OTD, OTR/L