ZealCare and Reinvestment Partners Unite to Improve Health Outcomes Through ‘Food Is Medicine’ for Patients with Heart Failure

Reinvestment Partners, a Durham-based nonprofit organization focused on creating and sustaining healthy communities, has partnered with ZealCare, an innovative behavior change health coaching and support company enabling and supporting the healthy lifestyles needed for optimal clinical outcomes, to conduct one of the largest randomized controlled studies to date of an intensive Food is Medicine intervention. The study, funded by Reinvestment Partners, will examine the impact of the Reinvestment Partners Eat Well program combined with ZealCare health coaching on the health of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).

Reinvestment Partners is a leader in the Food is Medicine movement, and its Eat Well initiative is the largest produce prescription program in the country. Eat Well uses prepaid debit cards and tech-enabled systems to provide patients at risk of food insecurity with funds to purchase fruits and vegetables at major food retailers. Since it was launched in 2018, the Eat Well program has served more than 150,000 patients across the country and allowed participants to spend over $29 million on fruits and vegetables.

ZealCare empowers patients with multiple complex conditions to become engaged and effective in self-managing their health, resulting in improved outcomes and significant cost savings reflected in a validated 6:1 ROI. The 12-month program is delivered virtually by certified health coaches on an AI-enabled platform to dose engagement and intensity, and combines personal health planning, peer-to-peer group sessions, a whole-person curriculum inclusive of mindfulness meditation and stress reduction, and social determinants of health screening and response. The model focuses on high-risk patients with cardiometabolic conditions, like CHF, where behavior change, and clinical plan adherence can markedly improve patient outcomes.

“This partnership is a testament to the strength of ZealCare’s innovative lifestyle behavior change approach and Reinvestment Partners’ commitment to create solutions that drive impact within the community, to improve health outcomes and decrease overall health care costs in patients with serious chronic diseases,” noted Dr. Ralph Snyderman, ZealCare’s founder.

“Reinvestment Partners’ Eat Well program enables patients to buy healthy fruits and vegetables that they need and want. By coordinating healthy food with health coaching, we will have a greater impact on patient outcomes than either intervention alone. Our goal is to help patients with CHF to live healthier lives,” said Peter Skillern, CEO of Reinvestment Partners.

About Reinvestment Partners

Reinvestment Partners is a Durham-based nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster healthy and just communities by empowering people, improving places, and influencing policy. The organization addresses the problems of poverty and social injustice in the areas of food, housing, community development, health, and financial services. Learn more at https://reinvestmentpartners.org/

ZealCare is a Durham-based technology-enabled personalized health company that transforms chronic disease care management through patient empowerment. ZealCare brings a new approach to healthcare, focusing on technology-enabled, personalized, integrative care that is grounded in evidence, focused on needed behavior change. The ZealCare program has demonstrated significant cost stavings, improved outcomes and high participant satisfaction. Founded in late 2020, the ZealCare patient-centered model is built upon decades of research conducted by Founder Ralph Snyderman, M.D., and Co-Founder Connor Drake, PhD, at Duke University School of Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and local federally qualified care clinics. The validated care model builds deep patient engagement through personalized health planning and goal setting with integrative health coaching. With its robust team and extensive evidence base, ZealCare is a significant force in transforming the healthcare landscape, while staying true to its mission to empower people with complex chronic conditions to live the life they want!

Learn more at www.zealcare.com.