Document (PDF, Word, Excel)

Coordinated Federal Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Asthma Disparities

Sponsoring Program Name: 
Environmental Protection Agency
The Action Plan, a key activity of the President’s Task Force on Children’s Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, advises that substantial progress in reducing disparities will require research to design, execute and evaluate implementation programs that maximize synergies among all key sectors to create a system of care that focuses on children most in need and reaches them where they live, learn and play.

In this plan, we propose to build on the strengths and lessons learned from past and existing federal asthma programs, combine efforts among federal programs at the community level, and develop collaborative strategies to fill knowledge gaps within existing resources. With clear evidence of broad commitment to reducing health disparities from federal, state, and local partners, the timing is right for this Coordinated Federal Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Asthma Disparities (Action Plan) to accelerate actions that will reduce asthma disparities. The Action Plan presents a framework to maximize the use of our existing federal resources for addressing this major public health challenge during the next three to five years. 

The Action Plan is founded on the following principles, which we believe offer the best foundation for effective and feasible federal efforts to address asthma disparities: 

  • Collaboration across federal agencies, other levels of government, and community partners.
  • Utilizing existing federal resources and optimizing their impact through synergies.
  • Emphasizing activities that address the preventable factors that impact asthma disparities. 
Contact Name: 
Contact Email: 
Contact Phone: 
Resource Category: 
Asthma Care Plan/Action Plan
Resource Type: 
Document (PDF, Word, Excel)
Language: 
English
Literacy Level: 
Don't Know
Target Audience: 
Other

Utilizing the Community Health Worker Model to communicate strategies for asthma self-management and self-advocacy among public housing residents

Sponsoring Program Name: 
Sinai Urban Health Institute
The Helping Children Breathe and Thrive in Chicago’s Public Housing (HCBT) project was developed based upon previous asthma interventions implemented at SUHI, mainly the Healthy Home, Healthy Child (HHHC) initiative. HHHC has proven to be an effective model for addressing poorly controlled asthma in the primarily African American, underserved community of North Lawndale. HCBT built upon this model in order to translate it to Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) properties.
Abstract

Non-Hispanic Black children in the US experience a higher prevalence of asthma and are more likely to have severe and poorly controlled asthma than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. These disparities are particularly pronounced among those living in public housing compared to the general population. To combat these disparities, health care researchers collaborated with public housing management to deliver a year-long community health worker (CHW) asthma and healthy homes intervention to children with asthma in six public housing developments. CHWs, hired from the targeted housing developments, educated families to better manage asthma medically and address asthma triggers in the home, and served as a bridge to medical, social, and public housing services. This is the first time such a full spectrum asthma intervention has been implemented by CHWs in public housing. Fifty-nine children completed the intervention, 95% of whom were African American. Daytime asthma symptoms in the previous two weeks were significantly reduced between baseline (4.1) and 1-year follow-up (0.8). The percent of children making two or more urgent health resource utilization visits decreased significantly between baseline (42%) and 1-year follow-up (15%). Quality of life scores for caregivers of children increased significantly (by 0.7 points). The implementation of the CHW model in a public housing setting not only meets children where they live, but effectively bridges the gap between them and the health care system, reducing the disproportionate burden of asthma in these communities and improving overall quality of life.

 

Click here to read the full manuscript.

Contact Name: 
Melissa Gutierrez
Contact Email: 
melissa.gutierrez@sinai.org
Contact Phone: 
773-257-5258
Resource Category: 
Community Health/Outreach Worker Tool
Program Management/Evaluation
Other
Resource Type: 
Document (PDF, Word, Excel)
Website
Language: 
English
Target Audience: 
Asthma Educator
Asthma Program Evaluator
Asthma Program Manager
Community Health Worker
Other

C is for Cookie, A is for Asthma Action Plan!

Sponsoring Program Name: 
EPA Asthma Program
Sesame Street characters help with your asthma action Plan. Here’s what to do when a child with asthma feels sick:

1. Have the child sit and rest

2. Help the child stay calm

3. Get help

Available in English and Spanish!

Contact Name: 
Contact Email: 
Contact Phone: 
Resource Category: 
Asthma Care Plan/Action Plan
Community Health/Outreach Worker Tool
Community Setting
Day Care
School
Other
Resource Type: 
Document (PDF, Word, Excel)
Language: 
Spanish
Literacy Level: 
At or below 6th Grade
Target Audience: 
Adolescent With Asthma

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