Contact: Alan Friedlob, Critical Junctures Institute acting executive director, (360) 650-4495 or alan.friedlob@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM—The Critical Junctures Institute, a collaboration of Western Washington University and Bellingham’s St. Joseph Hospital/PeaceHealth, has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation to help strengthen the medical home concept of primary care among Whatcom County patients.
The Institute will work with the Family Care Network and the University of Washington’s Department of Family Medicine to research FCN’s working model of care among complex patients, or those with multiple chronic conditions.
“This is very exciting,” said Alan Friedlob, acting executive director for the CJI. “This is research that gives back to the community and promotes patient-centered health.”
The medical home concept encourages patients to take an active role in their care and builds collaboration among medical professionals to streamline the care of their patients.
“We’re looking at what mechanisms doctors can use to work together to coordinate care and strengthen patients’ own self-management skills,” Friedlob said.
This research already had been begun by the Family Care Network, which serves roughly 50,000 patients. The one-year grant allows the CJI to work with the UW to expand that research, Friedlob said.
“These are patients who complain of a number of symptoms but are unable or unwilling, for whatever reasons, to take action,” Friedlob said. “Maybe they live alone or have no support system. Maybe they have other things going on in their lives that make managing their care difficult. This research is aimed at improving care for those individuals.”
The grant comes from the Whatcom Community Foundation’s MBI Health Innovation Fund, which was established to support bold, creative work in the healthcare field. The grant was one of three totaling $179,000 awarded recently from the foundation.
The Critical Junctures Institute is a Whatcom County-based institute that conducts research promoting community and individual health. For more information, contact Alan Friedlob at (360) 650-4495 or alan.friedlob@wwu.edu.
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