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MDCH Child and Adolescent Health Centers fund and support health centers all over the state of Michigan in medically and health professional under-served areas. Asthma is one of the medical conditions treated in most of our centers. Youth ages 5-21 are served in these centers. Primary care is delivered by nurse practitioners and physician assistants. Health education is an integral part of services provided. We find many different asthma education programs and initiatives in our center.

The Imperial Valley Child Asthma Program (IVCAP) is a community-based grant-funded program, the only program in the Imperial County  designed to improve the quality of life of children  ages 0-18, with  special emphasis on low-income Latino families with children  ages 0-5 who suffer from asthma. Tthe  program seeks to prevent or reduce hospitalizations by enhancing parental asthma management skills through care coordination, case management education, home visitations, community education,  and encouraging the adoption of standards of care for asthma among medical professionals  What is special about our program is the  unique partnerships that allows IVCAP  to provide essential  asthma management coordination services to both local hospital emergency rooms, pediatric departments, and the coordination of referral services to local pediatricians and clinics.  Another important aspect of the program is the asthma staff participations in different coalitions created to advocate clean air policies and a healthier environment for asthmatics.

Goals of the Asthma Care Improvement Initiative are:

1. To improve the electronic medical system to capture key data about asthmatic patients and generate alerts for medical providers.

2. To educate caregivers and children with asthma about the disease and engage them in a disease management partnership.

3. To implement an asthma care protocol reflecting the recommendations of the 2007 NAEEP guidelines.