The University of Nebraska Board of Regents recently approved plans to establish the Center for Patient, Family and Community Engagement in Chronic Care Management.
Dr. Lani Zimmerman, director of the center and professor in the UNMC College of Nursing, says the college originally had a funded NIH grant to reduce cardiovascular risk in rural Nebraskans.
She says that grant ended so they decided to use the infrastructure that had been developed for that and expand it to include multiple chronic diseases.
Zimmerman says the center will increase research productivity at the college and help patients with multi morbidities better manage their conditions.
"Really trying to get patients activated and get them better able to self-manage or having the family or the caregiver help manage the patient to keep them out of hospitalizations and frequent ER visits by doing better control of things at home.”
Zimmerman says the center will be virtual and include professionals from different health and academic units at UNMC colleges and centers.
She says Nebraska Medicine, UNO, UNL and UNK will also be partners in the center. Zimmerman says doctoral students will have the opportunity to interact and serve on research teams.