School

It is the objective of the program to improve the education and communication to involved parties about asthma including the causes, triggers, and the dangers of the condition. Due to the lack of communication, parents fail to inform school level personnel about the condition of the child until the trigger is activated.

The LAUSD Asthma Program focus is on the role schools and school staff can play in decresing the burden of asthma among students and families. Five speacialty trained school nurses conduct home visits and home environmental assessments, offer asthma education and coordinate care with medical homes and provide referrals to health, educational, social and community resources.

The San Diego Unified School District Nursing and Wellness Asthma Management Project is currently in the second year of a five year cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Lung Association of San Diego. Our primary mission is helping schools become more asthma-friendly by making changes that enable students to successfully manage their asthma and fully participate in all school activities. We also hope that similar healthy modifications may help other conditions of students at school.Asthma education for students and parents at school and at home has been an integral part of the asthma management provided by partners from the American Lung Association of San Diego. More than 100 students with asthma in six schools have received the Open Airways curriculum. More than 30 families of children with asthma have received home visits and assistance regarding home environmental triggers for asthma. Some families also received assistance from the San Diego Healthy Homes Collaborative for remediation of household asthma triggers.