The Children's Hospital Boston Community Asthma Initiative works to improve asthma management in children who have the condition and their families.
Participants in the program have asthma and are from Jamaica Plain, Roxbury or Mission Hill and between two and 18 years old. They are identified from Emergency Department and inpatient admissions.
Our program covers a full range of care: prevention, evaluation, treatment, parental support, case management, training and education and policy advocacy. We engage the entire community, including families, schools, community health centers, advocacy groups and community-based organizations.
Our approach includes:
- Case management - We work with the child's physician, provide resources for the child's family, including housing and insurance, and explain the child's Asthma Action Plan to parents.
- Home visitation - We visit children and their families at home to find asthma triggers, review medications and provide them with vacuums, dust covers, etc., for pest management.
- Education and public awareness
- We educate families, schools and community-based organizations about asthma.
- Public policy advocacy - we make efforts to ensure adequate coverage for asthma education and services and medical devices.
History of the program
The Community Asthma Initiative at Children's Hospital Boston was founded in July 2005, funded by a portion of Bank of America's $1 million donation to Children's community health initiatives.
While Children's has been providing asthma education, resources and support to children and families, as well as to the Boston Public Schools and other community-based organizations for the past four years, we created the Initiative to serve as a more in-depth case management asthma program.
Our case management model includes visiting homes to identify asthma environmental triggers and educating families about medications,
asthma action plans and the importance of physical activity.
Advocacy
We are working at the community and government levels to raise public awareness of asthma and encourage insurance companies and state legislators to provide adequate coverage for asthma education, case management, home visits, environmental assessments and asthma medications.
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