Pat Monahan, MPH¹, Tracey Dewart, PhD², William Sothern, MS, CIH³, and Susanne Lachapelle¹. (1) Little Sisters of The Assumption Family Health Service, 333 East 115th St., New York, NY 10029, 212-987-4422, lsafhs@mindspring.com, (2) Consultant, 12 west 29th Street #6, new york city, NY 10001, (3) Microecologies, Inc., 141 East 61st, New York City, NY 10021

The convergence of poverty, substandard housing condition, and limited access to health services has contributed to exceedingly high asthma rates among children, 24.5% in Harlem. Asthma is also aggravated by indoor air pollution such as smoking, cockroach droppings, mold, fumes from gas stoves and outdoor air pollution. The Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service's, a community-based organization, has undertaken a major asthma intervention program that targets home-based triggers for families whose children have asthma in East Harlem. The program began in 1997 and served 141 families. A follow up assessment was completed on 78 families in 2003. Nurses made at least 4 home visits and a community environmental worker 14 home visits to each family for one year. They provided health education and remedial interventions to reduce environmental triggers and poor medical care associated with asthma. Data on 75 families indicates several successful outcomes, including significantly fewer hospital and emergency room admission and statistically significant improvements in housing conditions such as smoke, rodents and roaches, and the cleanliness of the apartment and building. Asthma episodes among a subset of children were associated with the continued presence of smoke and roaches. Risk factors and demographic characteristics of the families who could not be located at follow-up will be compared to those who had a follow up. Overall, the program demonstrates that community-based interventions can affect housing conditions and care plans that lead to improved asthma outcome.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify emerging medical concerns and triggers associated with childhood asthma in Harlem
• Describe components of a successful community based asthma intervention program
• Identify environmental and medical variables that can be alleviated through programmatic interventions

Keywords: Asthma, Environmental Health Hazards

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Director of Nursing Department at LSAFHS. One of the programs at the agency is the topic of the presentation