Latest Chan Division News
Health and Wellness

Life, Redesigned ⟩
August 5, 2026

Chan in the Media Clinical Health and Wellness Lifestyle Redesign

“Nothing has helped me with my anxiety and my depression and my life more than occupational therapy,” says Jennifer Hong, a psychiatrist and Keck School of Medicine of USC psychiatry fellow who has been participating in Lifestyle Redesign, a program supporting students to improve their mental health and everyday lives through meaningful routines.

Lifestyle Redesign is an innovative framework created at USC Chan to coach patients — mostly USC students — to develop daily routines that promote health and wellness. (Illustration/Sam Falconer) By Chinyere Cindy Amobi (USC Today) Several years ago, psychiatrist Jennifer Hong was brutally…

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Randomized study finds Lifestyle Redesign® occupational therapy generated $250,000 in health care savings for primary care patients with diabetes ⟩
July 21, 2026

Health and Wellness Lifestyle Redesign Research

Cost–benefit study finds preventative occupational therapy significantly decreased emergency department visits and hospital stays.

(Adobe Stock) By Sammy Bovitz According to a new randomized study of primary care patients with diabetes, patients who received Lifestyle Redesign® occupational therapy generated more than $250,000 in health care cost savings compared to patients who received usual care alone. Researchers compared…

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The results are in: Lifestyle Redesign® heals patients, wallets alike ⟩
July 7, 2026

Health and Wellness Lifestyle Redesign

Healthier daily routines can mean fewer hospital visits.

Not only is Lifestyle Redesign® beneficial for patients, it also helps reduce the cost of care. The program has been estimated to save over $250,000 in healthcare costs, as a previously spotlighted study found. Patients who received Lifestyle Redesign care for diabetes in the study were found to…

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Post-doctoral scholar receives three-year NIH fellowship award ⟩
October 3, 2024

Diversity, Access, Equity Health and Wellness Research

Ryan Walsh received F32 postdoctoral fellowship grant to study social determinants of health in non-standard work contexts.

Post-doctoral scholar Ryan Walsh Post-doctoral scholar Ryan Walsh has been awarded a F32 postdoctoral fellowship grant from the NIH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities to study social determinants of health and health disparities in emerging (i.e., non-standard) work…

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New study demonstrates impact of interprofessional collaboration on health sciences education and practice ⟩
August 26, 2024

Chan in the Media Clinical Community and Partners Health and Wellness Students

Faculty member Ashley Halle quoted in article about USC's Interprofessional Education and Collaboration for Geriatrics program on education and care for complex health care needs of older adults.

By Michele Carroll / USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work One of the values of the IECG program is that students learn essential cross-disciplinary skills and assessments they can provide to patients in their own clinical practices. They also learn about other health sciences-based…

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Bracing for mental health “tsunami” ⟩
January 5, 2024

Health and Wellness Lifestyle Redesign

Tracy Jalaba MA ’14, OTD ’15, associate professor of clinical occupational therapy, co-authored a new op-ed in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy concerning the mental health “tsunami” seemingly engulfing many parts of contemporary American society. “The tsunami metaphor has two…

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Q&A with the author of the Model of Occupational Harmony, Dr Yijun Liu ⟩
November 11, 2023

China Initiative Health and Wellness International

Dr. Yijun Liu, author of the Model of Occupational Harmony (MOHar), shared her perspectives on the development and future of MOHar in an interview with the China Initiative.

The China Initiative invited Dr. Yijun Liu, author of the Model of Occupational Harmony (MOHar) and an instructor in the USC-PKUHSC dual-degree program, to share her vision for the development of MOHar and its application in the field of occupational science (OS) globally. The MOHar is a conceptual…

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Sensory adapted dental rooms significantly reduce autistic children’s physiological and behavioral stress during teeth cleanings ⟩
June 2, 2023

Autism Community and Partners Diversity, Access, Equity Health and Wellness Research

Results of USC–CHLA study of 162 autistic children show that safe and feasible adaptations to the clinic environment created more relaxed, less anxious dental care experiences.

By Mike McNulty In the SADE research clinic at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, sensory adaptations to the environment were shown to significantly reduce autistic children's physiological and behavioral stress during dental cleanings. (Photo by Phil Channing) New results from a study led by USC…

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Growing by design ⟩
April 21, 2023

Community and Partners Events Health and Wellness Pandemic Students

When designing the USC Peace Garden, student landscape architect Daniela Velazco prioritized people and planting.

By Mike McNulty USC Peace Garden designer Daniela Velazco MLA+U/MHC ’23 (Photo by Hannah Benet) "A garden is a physical manifestation of people coming together, doing the work and enjoying themselves along the way," says Daniela Velazco MLA+U/MHC ’23. Velazco spent the better part of last summer…

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Mitigating on-the-job stress: Stress mapping with artificial intelligence ⟩
March 29, 2023

Artificial Intelligence Faculty Health and Wellness Research Technology

USC Chan’s Shawn Roll leading interdisciplinary team on $1.1M National Science Foundation grant for managing, mitigating on-the-job stress.

By Mike McNulty for The Explorer Journal 2023 (Illustration by master1305/Adobe Stock) The World Health Organization has called stress the “health epidemic of the 21st century” — and that was before the Covid-19 pandemic. While a highly personalized phenomenon, job-related stress is…

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