In March 2016, The University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved plans to establish the Center for Patient, Family, and Community Engagement in Chronic Care Management (CENTRIC). The focus of the center is to build infrastructure to expand and fund pilot research projects that help Nebraskans learn to live with their chronic conditions so they stay healthy, stay in their homes longer, and reduce health care costs.
Chronic illnesses and conditions are a growing crisis. An estimated 133 million United States adults have a chronic diseases and nearly 25% of those have two or more chronic diseases.
To address the problem, we need to engage and rely more on patients, family caregivers, and community partners to help manage these conditions. Multidisciplinary teams will implement strategies to promote self-management to maintain or improve patient’s health and prevent a decline in health. Self-management support programs are one means of improving patient outcomes and reducing hospital readmissions and emergency room visits.
CENTRIC looks forward to working with different health and academic units at UNMC, as well as Nebraska Medicine, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and University of Nebraska-Omaha to help make Nebraska a healthier state and help those in underserved and rural populations.