The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #65461

Janet Primomo, PhD, RN, Nursing Program, University of Washington, Tacoma, 1900 Commerce Street, Box 358421, Tacoma, WA 98402, 253 692-4475, jprimomo@u.washington.edu, Frank DiBiase, MA, BS, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, 3629 South D St., Tacoma, WA 98418, and Leanne Noren, BA, American Lung Association of Washington, 223 Tacoma Ave So, Tacoma, WA 98402.

Clean Air for Kids (CAFK) is a community coalition providing outreach and education to improve asthma-related health by reducing exposure to home allergens and irritants. CAFK has multiple activities including the American Lung Association of Washington’s Master Home Environmental (MHE) Training Program, a program that trains volunteers who visit families upon request and assists them in identifying and minimizing home allergens and triggers. In addition to the MHE program, coalition activities include continuing education sessions for childcare providers, school nurses, and other health care providers; health fairs; and an asthma outreach worker (AOW). The purpose of this presentation is to describe the AOW model and findings from research designed to evaluate program effectiveness. Baseline and follow-up surveys were used to determine use of asthma management plans, child health outcomes, medication use, health care utilization, school absences due to asthma, home environmental behavior changes to reduce triggers, satisfaction with AOW services, and quality of life. Results suggest that the AOW is effective is helping families change behaviors. At follow-up, 80% of families had asthma management plans for their children as compared with 28% at baseline. 90% of families felt that the home environmental assessment conducted by the AOW helped improve their child’s asthma. All of the families made changes to improve the home environment (less toxic cleaning agents, smoking outside, cleaning up mold, changing furnace filters, increasing ventilation). Families reported high satisfaction with the AOW suggesting that community-based models can be effective in helping families improve their child’s asthma.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe a community-based educational and outreach program designed to assist families in reducing home environmental exposures to asthma triggers.
• To discuss behavioral changes implemented by families following home environmental assessments and the perceived health effects of home environmental assessments.

Keywords: Asthma, Community-Based Partnership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.