An economic evaluation examines the impact of occupational therapy in relation to financial
costs of providing a service. The analysis compares the costs of occupational therapy with an alternate (control) intervention to determine:
Is occupational therapy more beneficial than the control intervention to attain desired outcomes, such as increased independence or improved quality of life?
What is the difference in cost between occupational therapy and the control intervention?
How beneficial is occupational therapy in relation to costs, when compared with the control intervention?
As resources available to provide occupational therapy can be limited, economic evaluations are helpful to make choices regarding how financial investments are made.