Critical factors in developing coalitions to address environmental policies to reduce asthma triggers, lessons learned

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Mary Kreger, Dr PH¹, Claire Brindis, DrPH², Heribeto Escamilla, PhD³, Lauren Sassoubre, BA¹, Rebecca Dorman, MPH¹, Marion Standish, JDL⁴, and Diane Manuel, PhD, MBA⁴. (1) Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 265, San Francisco, CA 94118, 415-502-4544, mary.kreger@ucsf.edu, (2) Bixby Center for Reproductive Health Research and Policy, University of California, San Francisco, 3333 California Street, Suite 265, San Francisco, CA 94118, (3) Philliber Research Associates, 2772 Wilma Street., National City, CA 91950, (4) Greater Bay Area Regional Office, The California Endowment, 101 Second Street, Floor 24, San Francisco, CA 94105

Purpose: Define and discuss key issues that were critical in developing a statewide initiative to create policies to reduce asthma environmental risk factors.

The Community Action to Fight Asthma Initiative during its first iteration, funded by The California Endowment, provided funding to nineteen local, regional, and state-level coalitions and technical assistance providers across California from 2002 to 2005. The Initiative spawned multiple coalitions and networks across the Grantees. These Grantees used their local experience with educational and prevention interventions to advocate for local, regional, and statewide environmental policy change.

Policy activities fell into three primary categories: • Indoor air quality in schools, • Indoor air quality in housing, and • Outdoor air quality.

Factors Important to collaborative success included: • Employing professional staff, • Creating community readiness, • Obtaining support from environmental data coordinators, • Using a strategic plan, with technical assistance from a number of providers, • Clarifying roles and expectations with fiscal agents, • Creating a communication plan for community interactions, and • Creating diversity among organizations belonging to the collaborative.

Methods and results: A combination of site visits, interviews, surveys, and collaborative approaches were used to evaluate the Initiative and its outcomes.

Conclusion: The shift from educational activities to a concerted effort in environmental policy development was a new trajectory for the Coalitions of the Community Action to Fight Asthma Initiative. Several key factors facilitated this transition and the success of the Coalitions. Key factors and lessons are discussed.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

Define and discuss the types of activities that made a critical difference in the policy work of the Local Coalitions and other Grantees and understand how these activities were evaluated.

Keywords: Environmental Justice, Asthma

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation

The Right to Breathe:Community Action to Fight Asthma Empowers Communities to Make Policy Change

The 134th Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 4-8, 2006) of APHA