 |
|
Awardee
Tacoma-Pierce County Asthma
Prevention Partnership: Clean Air for Kids Coalition
Tacoma, Washington
Target Population
The targeted population for this project includes children and adults of multicultural populations, many non-English speaking, who reside in four high-risk communities in Pierce County where there is significant poverty, unemployment, substandard housing, and general distress. Leaky roofs, poor ventilation, mold and mildew, and increased exposure to second hand smoke place an already demographically high-risk population at even greater risk for development or exacerbation of asthma.
Proposed Strategy
This project will draw upon outreach workers and volunteers to deliver an intervention that integrates environmental education strategies with access to proper medical care as a means of strengthening medical management of asthma.
The strategy is to capitalize on the existing work of the Clean Air for Kids Coalition by using outreach workers and volunteers to:
- Identify high-risk individuals through area hospitals and clinics;
- Use outreach workers as an integral part of the primary care team to serve as client advocates working with other health care professionals to develop individualized management and care plans and emergency management plans;
- Encourage development of a school asthma management plan;
- Conduct a Home Environmental Assessment List (HEAL) to identify indoor air pollutants and then develop an action plan to alleviate the problems. Simple low-cost and no-cost examples include vent filters, cleaning kits, mattress covers, and reducing exposure to second hand smoke.
Additional activities include conducting community asthma education programs for children and families and continuing education and other opportunities for health care providers based on the national asthma guidelines "Expert Panel Report 2: Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma."
The proposed strategy will focus on one NAEPP goal:
- #4 -- To prevent recurrent of exacerbation of asthma.
Anticipated Outcome
The goals of the program are to strengthen local partnerships among asthma patients, families, health care providers and community institutions in order to improve the quality of life of patients with asthma. Specifically, it is anticipated that by increasing the number of patients with a written asthma management plan, increasing patient education and adherence to their management plan and increasing the number of patients and their families receiving education on reducing environmental triggers of asthma in the home a considerable reduction in asthma emergency department and urgent care visits will be achieved.