Oral

Despite gains made in asthma control through improved assessment of asthma severity and prescription trends through more widespread use of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute asthma guidelines, significant disparities in asthma severity and morbidity persist. Latino and African-American children have higher asthma rates than do white children and their hospitalization and emergency room utilization rates are also higher. This presentation will discuss the potential impact of housing conditions on asthma disparities, focusing on a Latino community in the Bronx. An asthma public awareness campaign for high-risk children in Boston will be described, with a discussion of the development of community partnerships and use of the media. An innovative way to measure the sustainability of public health programs, looking at organizational change, will be described. Finally, we will discuss the development and support of community-wide coalitions in California that are focused on influencing public policy to control asthma triggers that may lead to asthma exacerbations and poor quality of life for affected children.

Session Objectives: At the end of this session, participants will be better able to: • Recognize the disproportionate burden of asthma among African-American and Puerto Rican populations residing in the United States • Discuss how building type may influence the development and severity of respiratory illness and allergy • Describe ways to involve constituents and community partners in the development of a public awareness campaign on asthma • Translate the outcomes of a public education campaign into policy activity on asthma education • Understand key process and structure elements for involving community-based coalitions in state-level policy work

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing