FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2015

Contact: HHS Press Office 202-690-6343

HHS education and training resources on multiple chronic conditions for the health care workforce

New training material to help provide health care professionals with education necessary to care for people living with multiple chronic conditions was launched today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS Education and Training Resources on Multiple Chronic Conditions (MCC) for the Healthcare Workforce materials –a first of their kind– were created by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Through these new resources, HHS seeks to bolster interprofessional education and training materials for health professions students, faculty, practitioners, direct care workers, and patients and their families that address the care of persons with multiple chronic conditions. In addition, health professions education focuses on caring for patients with a single disease rather than those with multiple chronic conditions.

One in four Americans has multiple concurrent chronic conditions and their care costs nearly two-thirds of health care spending in the United States. “Working with academic faculties and educators on providing integrated care will help improve health, lower costs and maximize quality of life for some of our sickest patients,” said Anand Parekh, M.D., M.P.H., HHS deputy assistant secretary for health.

This announcement is part of the department’s commitment to improving the care of individuals with multiple chronic conditions. Acting Administrator of HRSA Jim Macrae underscored the importance of this commitment: “Underserved and vulnerable populations are disproportionately at risk for living with multiple chronic conditions and educating the health care workforce to manage these multiple conditions at once is critical to improving health outcomes nationwide.”

The resources support goal three of the HHS Strategic Framework on MCC, released in 2010, which is to provide better tools and information to health care, public health and social services workers who deliver care to people living with multiple chronic conditions , and is consistent with advancing HRSA’s mission of improving health through a skilled health professions workforce. These new education and training resources will assist academic faculty and educators across the education continuum to provide the health care workforce with the necessary tools and knowledge to care for persons living with MCC across care settings.

The resources are available online and include:

• the “Multiple Chronic Conditions Education and Training Repository” - a searchable database of existing educational resources that specifically address the care of persons living with MCC;
• the “Multiple Chronic Conditions: A Framework for Education and Training” – a conceptual model that outlines the core domains and competencies for the interprofessional health care team and;
• the “Education and Training Curriculum on Multiple Chronic Conditions” - a web-based course consisting of six modules.

These resources enhance new and existing education and training programs throughout the United States by emphasizing the use of interprofessional teams to provide better quality care to this vulnerable population.

For more information about the HHS Initiative on Multiple Chronic Conditions and the HHS Education and Training Resources on MCC, go to: http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/mcc.

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Last revised: July 1, 2015