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Healthcare Professionals

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Parents and Caregivers

Find out what you can do to eliminate asthma triggers in your home (go to www.noattacks.org exiting EPA [En Español] exiting EPA

Healthcare Professionals

Learn about asthma studies and how you can help patients manage environmental asthma triggers.

Partners

Learn how to partner with us and receive materials at no-cost.

Media

View public service announcements (PSAs, video news releases (VNRs) and other media materials about asthma and learn more about our National Public Awareness and Media Campaign.

El medio ambiente y su salud: Asma

Contents

How Can EPA Help Me Treat My Asthma Patients?

EPA supports scientific research to investigate links between factors in the environment and asthma. We strive to make sure doctors and their patients have access to the latest science about how the environment can affect asthma symptoms. EPA provides information about common indoor asthma triggers and recommendations for reducing exposure to them. Environmental triggers that are commonly found indoors include:

Factors in the outdoor environment can also trigger asthma. EPA provides daily updates on air quality forecasts to help asthma patients and other sensitive populations manage their exposure to environmental risks outdoors. Visit EPA's Air Quality Index site at www.epa.gov/airnow to see the air quality forecast for today.

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Does EPA Collaborate with the Health Care Community on Asthma Issues?

Online CMEs - EPA promotes the environmental management of asthma and is dedicated to improving and expanding the delivery of comprehensive asthma management programs to reach more people, more effectively. To help educate the health care community about environmental asthma triggers, EPA worked with America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) to develop a free online continuing medical education (CME) course www.aaaai.org/members/cme_ce/environmental_management/ exiting EPA  The course's objective is to equip health care plans and providers with information so that they can incorporate environmental management into clinical practices and create standards of care for asthma patients.

Answer Your Patients' Questions About How Air Pollution Can Affect Their Asthma

EPA's AIRNow - Health Care Providers web portal

EPA's AIRNow Health Care Providers web portal can help you help your patients protect their health by reducing their exposure to air pollution. The site includes information about the cardiovascular and respiratory health effects associated with outdoor air pollution exposure and educational materials for your patients. The site also features a medical poster, a downloadable fact sheet on asthma and outdoor air pollution, and a new web-based training course for health care providers, Ozone and Your Patients' Health at www.epa.gov/air/oaqps/eog/ozonehealth/index.html

Case Studies in Environmental Medicine (CSEM) Environmental Triggers of Asthma, ATSDR Course: SS3097

Over the past decade, the prevalence of asthma in both children and adults has increased in the U.S. In addressing this issue of disease management concerning asthma the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) has developed an educational course to increase the primary care provider’s knowledge of hazardous substances in the environment and to aid in the evaluation of potentially exposed patients. The case studies provided in this tutorial focus on environmental triggers of asthma. As an additional incentive there is an option for participants to receive accreditation. You can register for the course at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/CSEM/asthma/ exiting EPA where you can also determine the various accreditation opportunities associated with this resource. The expiration for accreditation is March 30, 2008.

How Can I Receive Recognition for My Efforts to Address Environmental Asthma Triggers?

Apply today for EPA's National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management recognizing health plans and health care providers for leadership in addressing management of asthma triggers as part of a comprehensive asthma care program. Visit www.asthmaawards.info exiting EPA to learn more about how you can receive recognition for your efforts to help people with asthma lead healthy, active lives.  Award recipients are recognized at the Communities in Action for Asthma-Friendly Environments National Asthma Forum.

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Does EPA Provide Asthma Materials At No-Cost for Health Plans, Providers and Asthma Patients?

Yes, EPA develops a wide variety of educational materials about asthma and environmental asthma triggers and makes them available to the public at no-cost. Some of EPA's materials are ideal for the health care community to use to educate asthma patients and care providers.

Develop a Comprehensive Asthma Home Visit Program

EPA's guide for health plans, Implementing An Asthma Home Visit Program: 10 Steps To Help Health Plans Get Started, offers step-by-step instructions on how to implement an asthma home visit program with a particular emphasis on environmental risk factor management. This guide -- compiled with input from seven health care organizations -- incorporates these organizations' experiences establishing and operating home visit programs.

Play an Asthma Video in Your Waiting Room

Breathing Freely: Controlling Asthma Triggers/Controlando los Factores del Asma Video

This video features medical professionals, families and children living with asthma. The medical professionals discuss the role of the environment in triggering and worsening asthma attacks and the families and children describe what it is like to live with asthma. The medical professionals and parents discuss ways to manage asthma so that children can live normal lives and the families demonstrate some simple asthma management techniques.

Controlando los Factores del Asma Video - EPA ha publicado un nuevo video educativo. La EPA se esfuerza en fomentar los conocimientos sobre el rol de los factores ambientales del asma para ayudar a los que sufren de asma.

View this video on the Web at: http://epa.gov/air/oaqps/eog/video/AsthmaVideo.wmv  (a 13 min. 30 sec. video that requires Windows Media Player)

  • [DVD English/Spanish EPA 402-C-06-001]
  • [VHS English EPA 402-V-06-001]
  • [VHS Spanish EPA 402-V-04-002]

Conduct In-Home Assessments

Incorporate environmental controls into home visit programs with EPA's Asthma Home Environment Checklist. This checklist helps home visitors recognize and address common indoor environmental asthma triggers.

Help Your Children Learn About Asthma and Have Fun

Check out Dusty The Asthma Goldfish and His Asthma Triggers Funbook; a great display for patient waiting rooms. The Funbook includes children's games to teach children and their parents about asthma triggers and how to avoid them.

PARA PADRES E HIJOS - Échele un vistazo a revista de muñequitos del EPA, Dusty La Carpa Dorada del Asma y Sus Provocadores de Asma. La revista es una herramienta educacional para ayudar a padres e hijos a conocer más sobre las cosas que provocan los ataques de asma.

Teach Parents and Caregivers to Manage Asthma at Home

Help Your Child Gain Control Over Asthma, a low-literacy asthma management guide. The brochure provides parents of children with asthma with the information they need to improve their children's quality of life. It is filled with tips on managing asthma by developing a management plan and following some simple steps to minimize exposure to asthma triggers found indoors and out. The brochure includes helpful visuals that display how to implement the suggested steps.
 
  • PDF Version (PDF, 36 pp, 1.1MB)
  • [EPA 402-F-04-021, September 2004] 

Ayude a su niño a controlar el asma

  • [EPA 402-F-05-021, December 2005]

EPA's brochure, Clear Your Home of Asthma Triggers: Your Children Will Breathe Easier, comes in multiple languages and is a handy resource for parents and caretakers of children with asthma. It describes five common environmental triggers and ways to reduce exposures to these triggers indoors.

  • English EPA 402-F-99-005, July 1999]
  • Spanish [EPA 402-F-99-005D, July 1999]
  • Chinese [EPA 402-F-99-005A, September 1999]
  • Korean [EPA 402-F-99-005C, September 1999]
  • Vietnamese [EPA 402-F-99-005B, September 1999]

To Order Free EPA Materials, contact:

You can order Indoor Air Quality publications from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP):

P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242-0419
Website: www.epa.gov/nscep
Phone:  1-800-490-9198
Fax:  (301) 604-3408
E-mail:  nscep@bps-lmit.com

NSCEP operates a Toll-free phone service for EPA Publication Assistance with live customer service representative assistance Monday through Friday from 9:00am-5:30pm eastern time.  Voice Mail is available after operating hours.  You can fax or e-mail your publication requests.  For technical assistance with NSCEP web pages, write to: nscep_nepis.tech@epa.gov

Please use the EPA Document Number, which is usually bolded or highlighted, when ordering from NSCEP.

How Do I Order Other EPA Publications?  Click Here

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How Can I Fight Asthma in My Community?

EPA works with local community organizations to promote awareness of asthma and environmental asthma triggers. Partner organizations conduct a wide variety of activities such as community asthma screenings, in-home environmental assessments and work with local schools to identify and reduce indoor asthma triggers. Visit our Asthma Partners page. Contact a local partner organization to learn how you can get involved in your community.

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