Healthy Housing for California: Reducing asthma triggers through non-traditional partnerships

California residents from some of the communities most heavily impacted by asthma may also be more likely to live in housing conditions that can exacerbate their asthma. For example, lower income residents are more likely to rent their homes and so have less control over aspects of the home environment related to asthma triggers. While asthma triggers can be found in any number of indoor and outdoor environments, many common triggers are found in the home. Mitigating these often requires the cooperation and resources of property owners and managers. State and local codes are not always adequate to protect the health of residents, particularly tenants living in substandard housing. In December of 2006, California Breathing and its sister organization California Asthma Partners held a symposium titled “Healthy Housing for California: Using Code Enforcement to Reduce the Impact of Asthma.” The symposium drew over ninety participants from around the state including experts in asthma, health advocacy, code enforcement, housing rights, property ownership and housing rights. As a result, a multi-disciplinary housing advisory board has been formed to guide California Breathing's housing strategy. Projects include: training diverse audiences in healthy housing principles and how to enact them; partnerships between community clinics and legal aide groups, and; a grants program to support local collaboration among diverse stakeholders. Projects focus on systemic change to reduce home-based asthma triggers. Process results and surveillance data will be presented. An interactive portion will provide an opportunity to consider appropriate local strategies.