Evaluating and sustaining structural changes advocated by the San Francisco Asthma Task Force and its partners

The Board of Supervisors-appointed Asthma Task Force has achieved many structural changes in how San Francisco institutions manage medical and environmental risk factors for asthma, working in partnerships with both government and community-based agencies. The Task Force is scheduled to “sunset” in June 2008, and members have begun to consider reconfiguration as a community-based asthma coalition, and to explore the steps needed to ensure ongoing effectiveness. In this process, the Task Force must also put in place sustainability strategies for each advocacy outcome that has been achieved and those still in progress, as well as sketch out a monitoring role for the proposed community coalition. Two examples of evaluation needs that impact sustainability: 1) Testimony from public school sites indicate that many more Asthma Emergency Care Plans and Medication Forms are being submitted on behalf of students with asthma by their parents and medical providers as a result of Task Force efforts. However, if the school sites do not enter the data into a centralized database, we will not be able to assess which sites need more outreach, or to monitor ongoing implementation of this protocol. 2) The Task Force has used City funding to finance the public housing authority's use of the latest infrared camera technology in identifying sources of water infiltration leading to mold growth. Over the long term, the Task Force must assess if using this technology effectively reduces environmental risk factors for asthma in public housing.