Coalition-based approaches to policy change

Background: Effective asthma management extends beyond the clinical setting into all areas of the community where children live, learn and play. The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma (LBACA), a community asthma coalition representing children with asthma in a community with some of the heaviest diesel traffic in Southern California is part of the Community Action to Fight Asthma network and THE Impact Project both focused on policy changes to improve the health impacts of trade.

Methods: LBACA engages and trains community leaders in the science linking pollution to health impacts. The “LBACA moms”--mothers of children with asthma-- document local health issues and have become a voice for the protection of public health related to goods movement activities in California. Through strong community-academic partnerships, resulting in the development of “Neighborhood Assessment Teams” and monthly training, LBACA continues to work with a cadre of women to improve the health of local residents.

Results: By engaging in regulatory and legislative work, LBACA is successfully advocating for health protective air quality policies as a strategy to address the rising levels of children's asthma.

Conclusions: LBACA's coalition-driven policy change enables community members to participate in local policy efforts and “Change Political Will.” Challenges, strategies and lessons learned will be fully delineated in this presentation.