Establishing a Community-Wide Network of Care to Reduce the Burden of Asthma in an Inner-City Community

Child asthma rates in Northern Manhattan are four times the national average. The complexity and fragmentation of local health care systems create significant challenges for this largely foreign-born community. The gaps in culturally appropriate asthma care and related supports have led to significant health risks for children with asthma and compromised quality of life for their families. To address these disparities, the Washington Heights/Inwood Network (WIN) for Asthma has leveraged existing community partnerships to establish a multi-level network of care composed of partners from a large academic medical center, a school of public health, community-based organizations, public schools, day care centers, and medical clinics. The strengths of this network lie in an established communication and referral system that enables partners to identify and engage families in multiple community settings; to expand asthma educational opportunities for children and their parents; to influence quality of asthma care among providers; to mobilize the community around asthma-related policy; and to facilitate the connection to complementary services such as immigration and housing assistance which impact asthma outcomes for children. The core activities with families of children with asthma are carried out by bilingual Family Asthma Workers from local community based organizations, who are trained in asthma education, management and trigger reduction. Activities with community medical providers are conducted by a foreign-trained physician skilled in asthma management and Quality Improvement techniques. In the past year, the Network has reached 2500 families of children with asthma and trained and supported 134 community providers.