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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Joseph Ponessa, PhD, Cooperative Extension -Specialists' Department, Rutgers University, Extension HE House, 71 Lipman Drive, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8524, (732) 932 9349, ponessa@aesop.rutgers.edu, Margaret Agostino, RNC, CS, MSN, IBLC, Central new Jersey Maternal and Child Health Consortium, 501 Hoes Lane, Suite 206, Piscataway, NJ 08854, Clatie Campbell, RRT, Respiratory Care, Capital Health System at Fuld, 750 Brunswick Ave., Trenton, NJ 08638, June Cuddihy, RN, CS, MSN, Unified Child Care - Catholic Charities, 94 Grove St, Somerville, NJ 08876, Sushmita Mikkilineni, MD, Pediatrics, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 1 Robert Wood Johnson Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, and Holly Miller, RN, Child Care Connection, 2424 Pennington Rd, Trenton, NJ 08638.
Young children are especially vulnerable to the effects of environmental pollutants. Daycare is an increasingly popular necessity for many parents, and the authors concluded that the operators and workers in such facilities should have a basic understanding of indoor pollutants. Since the incidence of asthma has been increasing dramatically over the last two decades (Crater & Platts-Mills, 1998) we decided that information asthma and its management would be of special value to childcare providers. Moreover, modest additions to the asthma curriculum would provide the opportunity to address the gamut of important indoor environmental topics affecting health. A multidisciplinary committee under the aegis of the Central New Jersey Maternal and Child Health Care Consortium was formed to address this issue. Presentations were developed by a physician, a registered nurse, a respiratory therapist and an environmental health specialist. The respiratory therapist offered demonstrations of peak flow meters and nebulizers. The environmental presentation focused on asthma triggers, but also covered the significant topics of lead poisoning and radon. These classes have reached some 400 daycare personnel and school nurses in the course of a year. Success of this program is attributed to its multidisciplinary aspect, marketing through key agencies and other factors to be discussed. The lead agency in this project has duplicated the teaching outlines in print and CD ROM formats, to encourage adoption by others.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to
Keywords: Child Care, Indoor Environment
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.