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James W Krieger, MD, MPH, Public Health-Seattle & King County and University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine, 999 Third Ave Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104, 206-296-6817, james.krieger@metrokc.gov, Fran Butterfoss, Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Center for Pediatric Research, 855 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, VA 23510, Andorra, and Jane W. Peterson, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, Seattle University, 900 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122-4340.
Background: People with asthma spend most of their time in community settings. Asthma control efforts are more successful if they include community-sited interventions coordinated with activities in other sectors.
Methods: AAA coalitions used a participatory planning process to develop community interventions that meet specific needs of individual communities. A social-ecologic model guided the process and suggested linkages across sectors.
Results: Coalitions are implementing a range of community-based activities: (1) Asthma self-management, education and support groups at community sites (faith institutions, schools, public housing, parenting groups, community centers) enhance participant skills and connect them with others affected by asthma. Parent support groups develop capacity for addressing neighborhood asthma issues. (2) Awareness-building strategies include outreach to community-based organizations, parent workshops, media coverage, website development, theater productions, and participation in community events (health fairs, asthma summits). (3) Examples of policy and advocacy efforts focus on reducing household and community environmental asthma triggers and generating funding for asthma education and care coordination.
Conclusions: Common themes have emerged through our work. Implementing community-based activities takes time because establishing trust and relationships between staff and community residents requires years, not months. Community activities facilitate entrée into existing social networks and organizations, which increases coalition reach into the community. Community activities develop community support for the coalition, a valuable asset for assuring coalition sustainability. The activities provide a mechanism to identify community leaders interested in participating the coalition. Finally, community interventions reinforce the asthma control activities occurring in other sectors.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Asthma, Community
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.