Childhood asthma management: Lessons learned from an Environmental Health Model

The Multnomah County Environmental Health Section's Healthy Homes Asthma program is a HUD-funded demonstration project with the goals to 1) decrease exposures to multiple household hazards which contribute to asthma exacerbations and other serious illnesses among children under the age of six in distressed communities of Multnomah County; 2) institutionalize sustainable community programs that promote healthy homes concepts; and 3) collaborate with stakeholders to create policy changes that support healthy homes. This session will focus on the six month in-home intervention component of the program. Over three years, a multi-disciplinary team will work with 200 families that have children under the age of six with asthma and who live in environmentally distressed homes and communities in Multnomah County. During six-month intervention periods an Environmental Health Specialist, a Community Health Nurse (CHN), and community outreach workers conduct a series of home visits with families to: a) create a Healthy Home Action Plan, b) provide education and resources to reduce environmental asthma triggers and allergens and improve medical self-management of the child's asthma, and c) make referrals to a network of community partner to assist families achieve their asthma management goals. This session will present preliminary outcome data from the first cohort of families in the program and discuss the lessons learned in implementing a multidisciplinary team approach to case management. The session will also discuss the challenges to program implementation and evaluation of a demonstration project that has undergone systematic improvement over the course of the demonstration project.