FYI ...
Keep Informed!
Need Help?
American Lung Association of San Diego and Imperial Counties |
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| Phone: | (619) 297-3901 |
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| Fax: | (619) 297-8402 |
| E-mail: | joni@lungsanddiego.org |
| Title: | National City Asthma Project |
| Project Director: | Joni T. Low |
| Target Population: | American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/ Latino, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander |
| Health Issues: | Asthma |
| Age Group: | Infants, Children, Adolescents |
| The National City Asthma Project provides a comprehensive approach to managing asthma by focusing on asthma care coordination, community awareness and education, and indoor air quality. The project is a collaborative effort with City of National City, National City Asthma Committee, Paradise Valley Hospital, Kimball Elementary School, Center for Child Health Outcomes, Children’s Hospital and Health Center, and Council of Community Clinics. Specific objectives are to improve asthma management outcomes; increase the community’s knowledge and understanding of asthma, its symptoms, triggers and treatment; provide information to residents and screen for asthma symptoms; and implement the U.S. EPA’s Indoor Air Quality Tools (IAQ TFS) for Schools program in Kimball Elementary School. Residents of National City are targeted, with an emphasis on Hispanic, low-income, and limited-English-proficient individuals.
Activities include home visits to children and their families to provide information on how to manage and prevent asthma symptoms, and how to take medications properly. Baseline and followup assessments on the child’s history and indoor environmental assessments are conducted to develop Environmental Action Plans for reducing or eliminating asthma triggers. Information is provided to the child’s health provider following each visit, and information on the child’s Asthma Action Plan is shared with school/childcare providers. Case management meetings are conducted monthly. Community education is provided through 10-12 presentations to help demystify asthma, clarify myths, and increase awareness of symptoms and appropriate treatment. In addition, information is made available through various community events and locations, and screenings are conducted at 4 community sites for at least 200 residents, using spirometry testing. The use of checklists recommended by the IAQ TFS is being implemented in Kimball Elementary School over the three-year project period to prevent and correct indoor air problems. A public awareness campaign is scheduled for the second year of the project, and training of other community organizations to provide asthma education will take place in the third year.
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