Boston, June 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) announced today that its telehealth grant project, launched in early April this year, awarded a total of $240,000 to 48 clinical sites across the country to enable Centering telehealth capabilities. The grants, ranging from $1,000 - $7,000 each, were offered to licensed Centering sites interested in continuing group care virtually, with the goal of keeping patients and groups connected until they can meet in-person again.
The grants support the ability for pregnant moms and young children to have continued access to relationship-based healthcare through telehealth Centering visits. Awarded clinical sites used funds for innovative purposes such as providing self-assessment tools that can be used by patients at home (blood pressure monitors, fetal dopplers, scales), patient data plan stipends and low-cost tablets. The grants also enable Centering practices to quickly pivot to virtual groups by covering subscription fees for telehealth platforms with group functionality and costs associated with hardware and IT upgrades within the clinic. Priority consideration was given to grant applications from community health centers, county health departments, safety-net hospitals and rural health centers - all that are generally low-resourced and on the frontlines of serving the nation’s most vulnerable families.
“We know the dangers of social isolation during pregnancy and the first couple of years with a new baby, particularly in communities that are subject to a great deal of toxic stress. The pandemic has compounded the need for relationship-based healthcare and made it more challenging to deliver. We were hearing from many of our Centering partners that there was a strong desire to continue Centering groups and we have done what we could to remove barriers so that they can do so,” said Angie Truesdale, Chief Executive Officer at CHI. “We are grateful to our philanthropic partners for their support during this time and proud to witness and support the resilience of the Centering community.”
In addition to the grants, CHI has supported Centering sites with technical assistance, thought partnership and digital resources for adapting the Centering curricula to a virtual format. Find more information on its COVID-19 response on the organization’s website.
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About Centering Healthcare Institute
CHI is a national non-profit organization, based in Boston, MA, with a mission to improve health and transform the way care is delivered. With over two decades of experience as the go-to resource for group healthcare, CHI has pioneered and sustained the Centering model of group care currently offered across 550 healthcare practice sites. The evidence-based Centering model of care combines health assessment, interactive learning and community building to help support positive health behaviors and drive better health outcomes. CenteringPregnancy® and CenteringParenting® provide the highest quality of care to families from pregnancy through age two of the child. The CenteringHealthcare® model of care is being extended to many different health conditions including groups for asthma, diabetes, opioid recovery, cancer survivors, chronic pain and other patient populations. Visit www.centeringhealthcare.org for more information.