FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CentralReach, the leading provider of autism and IDD care software, today announced the launch of CR Care Coordinator, a multi-media-based, self-paced parent training software designed to unlock the full potential of clinician-led, parent-reinforced care. The patented software application enables therapy providers to offer a library of both off-the-shelf and customized digital content and videos to enable caregivers to learn the basics of applied behavior analysis (ABA), support in-person therapy programming and other parenting strategies to ease caregiver learning and improve caregiver effectiveness at home. Additionally, caregivers can monitor and collect data on their child’s progress to share with the clinician to enhance reinforcement and accelerate outcomes.
Parent or caregiver training is critical in the delivery of ABA care as it can equip families who are eager to assist and guide their children but are unsure how to deploy some of the basic ABA methodologies that professionals employ in direct services. By arming parents with the tools to continue care outside of direct services, parents and caregivers are more empowered, engaged, and effective in both reinforcing care and in helping their child achieve better outcomes. In fact, in many cases, parent training services have even become a required component of the care plan - as well as a key quality measure - thanks to its proven ability to influence outcomes.
Despite all the benefits that parent training can provide, providers routinely struggle to deliver the fully authorized amount of training authorized by payers. The reasons for this are fourfold.
- Staffing challenges and capacity constraints faced by ABA providers make it difficult to find time to both build and deliver parent training.
- Time-starved, busy parents have trouble freeing up their limited bandwidth to fully engage in the training.
- The delivery method and widely varying quality of the training make it difficult for parents to internalize and apply once the therapist leaves. As a result, authorized parent training hours go unused, parents become frustrated and disengaged because they feel unable to fully help their children, and ultimately, the potential for greater outcomes for the parents, child, and even provider remains locked.
- There are limited parent-training resources available for clinicians to use, and of the resources that do exist, many focus on behavior reduction instead of skill acquisition.
CR Care Coordinator’s patented delivery approach addresses each of these challenges and arms the providers with a way to bring parents into the care fold at scale. Some providers are even using the software to support families on waitlists. Some notable features include:
- Professionally developed, video-modeled parent training content that can be edited and customized at any time, enabling providers with a turnkey solution to maximize authorized parent training hours and minimize the non-billable hours to customize or generate parent training curricula.
- The ability for providers to upload their own, customized parent training content for caregivers to access.
- Data collection tools for caregivers to track and share their child’s progress directly with their clinician.
- Reporting and analytics designed to track caregiver engagement and areas of opportunity.
“Caregivers play a vital role in reinforcing professionally-delivered ABA care to children and supporting them on their journeys, but are often underprepared for what this actually entails,” said Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach. “With shortages in the field, BCBAs are already spread thin, making it difficult for them to both provide care to individuals with ASD and/or IDD and train parents in a way that keeps parents engaged in care. CR Care Coordinator allows providers to both scale parent training quickly and provide parents with a way to digest the learning at their own pace, in their own time and after the live, clinician-led parent training hour has occurred. If a parent can access video-based modeling training as a behavioral episode is occurring to quickly deploy interventions that support their child, positive outcomes become that much more likely. And, as a result, providers are left with more engaged and empowered parents, which can accelerate learner progress and help families maximize the clinically-recommended number of hours the learner should receive.”
Sullens continued, “In looking across our 3,600 therapy providers - as well as the half of a million learners who are being served by CentralReach customers, we found that those with the highest parent training utilization saw a ~30% reduction in learner churn – a powerful insight for therapy providers who have yet to dedicate the time to and investment in parent training services.”
CR Care Coordinator will be the only parent-support software integrated directly into the company’s EMR platform, allowing providers to connect parent training to their client’s overall clinical plan and outcomes. The software is primarily used to supplement learners that are receiving direct services, but can also be used for families waiting to receive services when appropriate.
To learn more about CR Care Coordinator and its capabilities, visit https://centralreach.com/products/care-coordinator/. Additional information about CentralReach can be found at https://centralreach.com/.
About CentralReach
CentralReach is the leading provider of autism and IDD care software, providing the only complete, end-to-end software and services platform that helps children and adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) - and those who serve them - unlock potential, achieve better outcomes, and live more independent lives. With its roots in Applied Behavior Analysis, the company is revolutionizing how the lifelong journey of autism and IDD care is enabled at home, school, and work with powerful and intuitive solutions purpose-built for each care setting.
Trusted by more than 150,000 professionals globally, CentralReach is committed to ongoing product advancement, market-leading industry expertise, world-class client satisfaction, and support of the autism and IDD community to propel autism and IDD care into a new era of excellence. For more information, please visit CentralReach.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
