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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Bindi Gandhi, MA and Barbara Cowan, MPH. Environmental Health Investigations Branch/California Department of Health Services, California Breathing, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Building P, 3rd Floor, Richmond, CA 94606, 510.620.3605, bgandhi@dhs.ca.gov

Presenter will provide information on data describing the health disparities in asthma and health disparities in general within the California population. The presenter will focus on the following diverse communities: African Americans, poor families, children, and families overly exposed to environmental irritants and triggers. Presenter will describe the root causes of asthma disparities in California and how California Breathing is addressing these issues. The California Breathing Health Disparities Program has many components: 1) a mini-grants program for grassroots organizations across the state to provide asthma education programs for various audiences; 2) collaboration with key stakeholder organizations including other state, local, community, health care, housing, and environment organizations to mobilize on common health and environment messages; and 3) the collection and analysis of more descriptive disparities data for Californians with asthma such as environmental health data linked with asthma data and other chronic conditions linked with asthma. The presenter will emphasize the importance of dovetailing efforts with the larger disparities efforts so as to avoid silo-ed prevention efforts and focus the common root causes of disparities such as access to care. Session participants will have the opportunity to discuss how their respective organizations are addressing disparities, the successes and challenges they are currently facing in their efforts and resources to overcome the challenges.

Learning Objectives:

• • Identify the health disparities in asthma for persons living in California.
• • Describe the approach California Breathing is utilizing to address these disparities in asthma.
• • Discuss how their individual organizations are addressing health disparities.
• • Assess the implications of health disparities in the work they do and how they can be an active participant in larger disparities conversation.
• • Recognize that many of root causes leading to the disparities in asthma are the same root causes of disparities in other health conditions.

Keywords: Asthma, Public Health

Related Web page: www.californiabreathing.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered