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Health Care Initiative
Follow the links below for messages designed for you.
Parents and Caregivers
Find out what you can do to eliminate asthma triggers in your home (go to www.noattacks.org
[En Español]
Learn about asthma studies and how you can help patients manage environmental asthma triggers.
Learn how to partner with us and receive materials at no-cost.
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.
EPA is committed to reducing the impact of environmental asthma triggers on asthma patients and their caregivers. As part of this effort, EPA works with health care plans and providers and other health care organizations to promote environmental management as a standard of care and clinical practice. EPA recognizes health care plans and providers for leadership in environmental asthma management, collaborates with the healthcare community to integrate environmental management into comprehensive asthma care and provides the health care community with information about environmental asthma triggers and ways to manage them.
The National Institute's of Health (NIH)
Guidelines for the Diagnosis and
Management of Asthma
highlight the importance of managing environmental factors that contribute to the severity of asthma and many health plans and providers include environmental
management in their asthma care programs. But much more needs to be done.
Outreach Programs for Health Care Plans & Providers
EPA and partner organizations provide the healthcare community with resources necessary to integrate environmental management into asthma care. These resources -- including training courses, technical assistance tools and meeting forums -- address identification, assessment and management of environmental asthma triggers and effective community outreach programs.
The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)
ACCP is a medical specialty society of physicians, surgeons, allied health professionals, and individuals with PhD degrees who specialize in diseases of the chest. The ACCP creates a unique multidisciplinary approach to cardiopulmonary medicine where pulmonologists, cardiologists, thoracic surgeons, and others can come together at College events for an experience not available from other sources -- examination of a topic from a perspective that encompasses all of the major specialties involved. EPA supports ACCP's Annual Community Asthma Coalition Symposium to provide local asthma coalition leaders with information on effective community approaches to asthma control, networking opportunities with other community leaders, and ways to organize and support community coalitions.
- For more information, visit www.chestnet.org/
America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)
AHIP is the nation's principal association of health plans, representing more than 1,000 plans that provide coverage for approximately 170 million Americans. AHIP strives to create, support and enhance chronic disease management programs in managed care organizations which will improve quality, effectiveness and value in health care. Working with EPA, AHIP has launched the Taking on Asthma Initiative to improve the quality of care provided to people with asthma. Through this initiative, AHIP has made a long-term commitment to support health plans as they increasingly offer comprehensive asthma management programs that include environmental risk factor management for indoor asthma triggers. AHIP is helping its member health plans to integrate evidence-based environmental management into their comprehensive asthma care programs; recruiting senior health plan staff to support efforts to integrate environmental management into comprehensive asthma care programs; conducting symposia on environmental asthma management; and providing one grant to a health plan that will develop an asthma management program that includes environmental management.
- For more information, visit www.takingonasthma.org
The American Respiratory Care Foundation (ARCF)
ARCF partners with EPA to conduct "Indoor Environmental Asthma Triggers and the Respiratory Therapist Train-the-Trainer Workshops." These workshops provide attendees with the latest information about managing indoor environmental asthma triggers and how to incorporate environmental control information into asthma disease management. Registration is free and attendees receive 4 AARC Continuing Respiratory Care Credits.
- To learn more about courses offered by ARCF, visit www.arcfoundation.org/epa_course/
The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU)
ACU is a nonprofit, Tran disciplinary organization of clinicians, advocates and health care organizations united in a common mission to improve the health of America's underserved populations by enhancing the development and support of the health care clinicians serving these populations. The ACU has partnered with EPA on the Pediatric Asthma Indoor Air Quality Improvement Program to educate clinicians on the importance of integrating environmental management of asthma into comprehensive asthma management care plans through a multi-disciplinary curriculum, training sessions, clinical tool cards and follow-up technical assistance.
For more information, visit www.clinicians.org
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA)
AAFA is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with diseases through education, advocacy and research. In partnership with EPA, AAFA offers an Asthma Management and Education Program to reach over 495 allied health care professionals (registered nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists and pharmacists) who will ultimately provide up-to-date information on environmental controls and asthma management to an estimated 10,000 individuals with asthma per week.
- For more information on AAFA's Asthma Management and Education Program, contact the Educational Programs Manager at 202-466-7643 or visit AAFA's web site at www.aafa.org
To learn more about EPA's Healthcare Initiative, contact:
Katrin Kral kral.katrin@epa.gov
Environmental Protection Specialist
(202) 343-9454