Children's Health Initiative - Impacts of Childhood Asthma in California

Details

Capability: Public Health Research and Development

Subcapability: Health Policy Research and Development

Project Timeline: 11/15/2005 - 10/31/2006

This project created a new asthma collation with a focus on children's environmental health and community previously unable to marshal resources to create public awareness of environmental aspects asthma, contribute to an existing statewide partnership with asthma advocates, and build capacity to address asthma among a new group of stakeholders. Ultimately, the coalition is able to influence as the policy and ensure that successful environmental interventions for reducing asthma triggers would be implemented. The development of this coalition serves as a sound model that can be replicated communities elsewhere. Project Goal: to promote a strong asthma coalition with the capacity to help reduce environmental asthma triggers, especially those affecting children in Mendocino County. Project Objectives include: Provision of at least one structured training and technical assistance session to a target community on building and asthma coalition; Provision of at least one workshop for the newly formed coalition and members of their community on indoor air quality schools; Provision of at least one workshop for the newly formed coalition on reducing children's exposure to outdoor air pollution to include education on poor air quality in children with asthma and key issues such as school bus idling and wood-burning stoves; and Provision of at least one training to the coalition and community members on asthma triggers the home. The project sought out to collect qualitative data through a community needs assessment process led by the community coalition. Through this process, the coalition would gain a greater understanding of community member knowledge about asthma and capacity to address asthma triggers impacting children. Through pre and post testing, the project would show an increase in the understanding about specific sources of asthma triggers in indoor environments including schools and homes, and in the sources related to outdoor air pollution. The primary partners of this project included the California Department of Health Services, Sequoia Foundation, the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) Initiative, and the Mendocino County Public Health Department.