Community

The Childhood Asthma Linkages in Missouri (CALM) project was designed by the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH) to support the implementation and expansion of comprehensive, innovative and evidence-based programs to improve health outcomes for school-age children with asthma. Specifically, CALM supports program models led by hospitals, school districts or university-based health centers that utilize community-based approaches to build successful linkages among those responsible for asthma care in children. The University of Michigan Center for Managing Chronic Disease (CMCD) is conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the CALM program that will result in common cross-site assessment of reach, linkages, sustainability of efforts, and asthma-related outcomes.

Frederick Memorial Healthcare System is dedicated to its community to provide educational opportunities to better manage their disease. We have certified clinical asthma educators that offer an exciting Asthma Awareness Program that will help form stronger relationships between the healthcare professionals and their surrounding communities. Our program is a community service that includes information on basis asthma facts, symptoms, triggers, medications, and their ways of administration. A crucial step in asthma control is the development of an Asthma Action Plan.

Mission Statement: To improve the quality of asthma education, prevention, management and services in Trempealeau County.

Accountable Communities: Healthy Together - Asthma (ACHT-A) is a collaborative between the Georgia State University Institute of Public Health, Southside Medical Center, and the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning: Bright from the Start. The purpose of ACHT-A is to decrease the burden and experience of adverse effects associated with childhood asthma within NPU-V by the development of a program to address the multiple modalities of educational, medical, and environmental interventions for the management and control of asthma and its symptoms.

As part of the National Environmental Education Foundation's Pediatric Asthma Initiative, a faculty champion in Region 5 is taking a leadership role in integrating environmental management of pediatric asthma into education and practice at the University of Cincinnati and throughout Region 5. The faculty champion is training other faculty members, students, residents, and health care professionals in the region, as well as teaching courses, integrating competencies into curricula, and serving as a model for how to integrate Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Health Care Providers (available online at http://www.neefusa.org/health/asthma/asthmaguidelines.htm) into education and practice.

The goal of Healthy Homes is to assist Cowlitz County residents in learning about common health risks in the home associated with asthma, allergies, and other breathing problems. Trained volunteers work with the resident, to perform an in-home assessment that locates common triggers known to aggravate breathing conditions. Some examples include mold and mildew, dust mites, pet dander, and secondhand smoke. Then, the volunteer and resident develop a simple action plan that includes low or no-cost ways in which to make the suggested improvements.

The 2007 National Institutes of Health Asthma Guidelines recommends that regular home peak flow readings play a central role in classifying asthma severity and in guiding asthma therapy. Despite the wide availability of manual and electronic peak flow meters, asthmatic children and their parents have not traditionally practiced regular, home peak flow use.

Our "Asthma-Friendly Child Care" project reduces the incidence of asthma, asthma related complications and hospitalizations among children who are in child care settings. Our project provides asthma prevention and management training to child care providers and parents through individualized on-site consultation and group trainings. Training and resources are provided in Spanish, Chinese and English.

FVAC members promote and provide asthma education in area schools, sporting organizations, and in local Fox Valley communities. Our target audiences are school staff, youth sports coaches and day care staff. Several coalition members are trained to present Asthma 101 ALA program and Live Well, Breathe Well program. Our current projects include training for local pharmacists and clinicians in the use of Asthma Care Fax, partnering with GSK to sponsor Rx for Change, tobacco cessation training and community outreach at YMCA Healthy Kids Day.

The American Lung Association in California's San Bernardino office provides various asthma programs. The OAS PLUS program is our school-based asthma education program, which includes Open Airways for Schools, Kickin' Asthma, Asthma 101 and Exercise & Asthma. These classes provide the education and information necessary for students and their caretakers to better manage their asthma. We also offer a home-based asthma education program; a community health worker provides in-home asthma education and asthma friendly supplies. All of our programs aim to reach the many families affected by asthma.