Training/Educational Kit

Here in one location, you can find resources including clinical guidelines, patient education and self-management materials, policy briefs, asthma reports, clinical toolkits, mobile technology and asthma information, and smoking cessation and tobacco materials.

Many of the resources are available in both English and Spanish, and some in other languages, including Chinese. Also included are a variety of multimedia tools such as videos and interactive web sites. There are even links to asthma-related training courses where continuing education credits are available.

The School Flag Program helps children, parents, school personnel and the community be aware of daily air quality conditions using brightly colored flags. Each day, a flag is raised in front of participating schools that signals the level of air pollution for that day. By comparing the colored flags to the Air Quality Index (AQI), members of the school and the surrounding community can tell what the daily air quality is, and adjust their activities to reduce their exposure to air pollution. Green indicates good air quality, yellow is moderate, orange means unhealthy for sensitive groups (like children and those with asthma), and red signals unhealthy air for everyone. A purple flag means the air quality is very unhealthy and sensitive groups should avoid all outdoor exertion and everyone else should limit outdoor exertion.

Ozone and Your Patients' Health is a short, evidence-based training course designed for family practice doctors, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, asthma educators and other medical professionals who counsel patients about asthma and respiratory symptoms. This course is a short, evidence-based training that:

• Describes the physiological mechanisms responsible for the lung function changes and symptoms caused by exposure to ground-level ozone
• Describes the relationships observed between ground-level ozone and other adverse health effects
• Discusses in detail the effects of ozone exposure on patients with asthma
• Helps health care providers advise their patients about exposure to ozone
• Provides practical Patient Education Tools to help patients understand what triggers their symptoms and how to alleviate them

This Enduring Material activity, Ozone and Your Patients' Health, has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 1.50 Prescribed credit(s) by the American Academy of Family Physicians. AAFP certification begins December 15, 2011. Term of approval is for two years from this date with the option of yearly renewal. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.