Boston, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) announced today that it has received $13 million in philanthropic funding to support scaling access to the Centering model throughout the United States. New multi-year grants from the Bezos Family Foundation and MacKenzie Scott, along with reinvestments from Valhalla Charitable Foundation, Imaginable Futures and Overdeck Family Foundation, will provide the organization to continue its multi-year growth strategy and make necessary technology pivots to design and offer the Centering model of group care in virtual formats. This increased accessibility will allow for the expansion of the model to reach the most vulnerable populations and continue to provide relationship-based care that improves health outcomes.
The 2020 investments add new depth to an impressive list of CHI funders, mark the largest round of funding in CHI history and reiterate confidence for the impact that Centering can have in advancing maternal and child health. With a mission to improve health, transform care and disrupt inequitable systems through its Centering model of group care, CHI seeks to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women, young children and their families. The evidence-based model known to reduce racial disparities and improve health outcomes, has a positive impact on lowering the risk of preterm birth, elevating lived experience alongside clinical care, supporting healthy parent-child interactions and increasing parental behaviors that lead to positive life outcomes for children.
“We are honored by the support and confidence we continue to receive from funders who are committed to supporting women and children through Centering,” said Angie Truesdale, Chief Executive Officer at CHI. “This year has brought to light an even greater need for relationship-based healthcare and the challenges in delivering it. The immense support we have received will be instrumental in CHI's efforts at making Centering available to more communities where it matters most and keeping patients connected, especially through this challenging time.”
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, CHI, with support from its funding partners, has responded to the strong demand from the Centering community to continue Centering groups. It has awarded a total of $240,000 in small grants to sites across the country to enable Centering telehealth capabilities and help remove some of the barriers experienced in care delivery during the pandemic. In addition to the grants, CHI has also been supporting Centering sites with technical assistance, thought partnership and digital resources for adapting the Centering curricula to a virtual format.
“We are proud to partner with Centering Healthcare at this important time in their organizational growth,” said Megan Wyatt, Managing Director at the Bezos Family Foundation. “Now more than ever, parents need connection and support to build their skills and well-being so they can nurture their families. By creating strong networks of parents and providing relationship-based care, Centering Healthcare is addressing inequities and building stronger communities for children and their families.”
With two models, CenteringPregnancy® and CenteringParenting®, Centering is the only intervention that offers continuity of care from pregnancy through the critical early childhood period of health and development (P-2+) with a focus on parent activation and empowerment. Centering reduces social isolation, creates a community of support and empowers parents with knowledge and skills to support their family’s health. The available evidence suggests that Centering has a combined effect of stress reduction, education and patient activation that brings about these impressive results.
CenteringPregnancy was recently recognized as a recommended strategy to improve maternal and child health outcomes in the inaugural Prenatal-to-3 (PN-3) State Policy Roadmap that identifies effective policies and strategies that states should implement to build a robust and more equitable prenatal-to-3 system of care. CenteringParenting, CHI’s pediatric group care model was recognized by The Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) as an innovative pediatric intervention in a study released late last year.
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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, transform care and disrupt inequitable systems through the Centering group model. 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 560 healthcare practice sites. The evidence-based model combines health assessment, interactive learning and community building to help support positive health behaviors and drive better health outcomes. CHI partners with clinical practices to implement systems change and build the infrastructure to support a successful and sustainable Centering practice. Centering is appropriate and effective for all families and is offered in every type of healthcare setting including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), community & hospital clinics, academic medical settings, private practice, the U.S. military and Indian Health Service.
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.
About Bezos Family Foundation
Bezos Family Foundation is a private, independent foundation based in Seattle that believes young people are born with incredible potential and deserve supportive experiences to learn and thrive. The Foundation invests in the science of learning and partners with remarkable organizations and individuals to transform how we prepare young people from birth through high school to pursue their own path for success and meaningfully contribute to society. In addition to grantmaking, the Foundation runs four in-house programs: Bezos Scholars Program, Mind in the Making, Students Rebuild, and Vroom.