Building an infrastructure that promotes environmental health for a large urban school district: Creating and sustaining policies that ensure school staff and communities are equipped with the tools, skills and resources necessary to support healthy school environments for children

The well-being for children in Boston is significantly affected by asthma and other environmental health related concerns. Boston has one of the highest asthma prevalence rates in Massachusetts at 10%. Asthma is the number one chronic condition treated in Boston Public Schools (BPS) and with an overall asthma rate of 15% BPS students have one of the highest incidences of asthma related sickness in MA. In Boston, rates of asthma hospitalization and emergency department visits for children are 2-3 times the statewide average. In the BPS 2011 Asthma Report, BPS Health Services department reported that 8,157 (15%) of BPS students have asthma, of which, on average, 5% are using 1000 doses of prescribed rescue medication per month. Such data indicates that many BPS students have uncontrolled disease, and thus are “frequent flyers” to the school nurse office due to asthma related illness, potentially impacting their overall physical, academic, social, and emotional development. This presentation will explain how the Boston Healthy Schools Taskforce (BHSTF) has advocated for and acheived the creation of district wide environmental health policy that builds the capacity of BPS educators and families to implement and sustain strategies that reduce children's exposure to air pollutants, toxic cleaners and disinfectants as well as pests and pesticides in school settings– all factors that cause or exacerbate asthma, allergies, and other respiratory problems among children. BHSTF is a city wide environmental health coalition that supports overall coordination of care for BPS students with asthma Key capacity building activities that will be discussed include the provision of training and technical assistance for BPS staff and families, the development of environmental health policy and school based committees that receive technical assistance to implement and sustain evidence based public health strategies that improve indoor air quality and reduce toxic exposures district wide for BPS.