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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Julie Osgood, MS¹, Deborah Deatrick, MPH¹, Barbara Chilmonczyk, MD², and Lisa Belanger, MSN, NP³. (1) Clinical Integration, MaineHealth, 465 Congress Street, Suite 301, Portland, ME 04101, 2075417515, osgooj1@mmc.org, (2) Allergy and Asthma Associates, 43 Baxter Blvd, Portland, ME 04101, (3) FHS, PHD, HHD, Portland School Based Health Center, 143 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101

Maine has one of the highest rates of childhood asthma in New England, costing the state over $82 million per year in direct and indirect costs including healthcare expenditures and losses in productivity. It is critical to combine community and clinical interventions to achieve sustainable outcomes in asthma. MaineHealth obtained grant funding to run a community-based asthma collaborative combining businesses, schools, childcare organizations, public health, minority health organizations, and clinical providers, such as a clinic for homeless adults, pediatric and family practices. This session describes the development of the AH! Asthma Health Community Collaborative and the outcomes achieved in the Greater Portland, Maine. The project focused on populations with low-income, underinsured or without insurance, and non-English speaking. Outcomes ranged from a family practice center's increase in severity classification from 24% at baseline and 100% at the end of the collaborative to the creation of an Asthma Helpline for Latino and Somali community members by a minority health program. Other achievements include the development of non-English asthma education materials; significant improvements in care and outcomes for children and adults with asthma; and vital connections between community organizations and primary care providers. MaineHealth, a non-profit, integrated healthcare delivery system (including nine hospitals, a physician-hospital organization, laboratory and home care agency), has considerable experience conducting Learning Collaboratives (adapted from the Institutes for Healthcare Improvement model and the Chronic Care Model by Wagner, et al.) in hospital and physician office practice settings for chronic illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, and depression.

Learning Objectives:

• 1) Describe a health system's community-based approach to addressing asthma.
• 2) Describe an Asthma HelpLine and the role of Community Health Outreach Workers in promoting asthma care in Somali and Latino populations.
• 3) Discuss outcomes achieved by teams (community and clinical organizations) participating in the collaborative.

Keywords: Asthma, Collaboration

Related Web page: www.mainehealth.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.ppt format, 5290.5 kb)