Asthma Control Program Highlights

Tracking

Enhanced surveillance of asthma deaths

To understand the circumstances surrounding asthma deaths and determine whether these deaths were preventable, CDC is funding state health departments in California and Michigan to develop, implement, and evaluate a rapid asthma death notification and investigation system.

Population-based models to establish surveillance for asthma incidence in defined geographic areas

To better estimate asthma rates, CDC is funding the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute (Portland, Oregon) and the Miami-Dade County Health Department (Miami, Florida) to develop models for identifying new asthma cases.

Interventions

Controlling Asthma in American Cities

To decrease asthma-related morbidity, CDC is funding grantees in seven urban communities (New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago, Richmond, Oakland, St. Louis, and Minneapolis/St. Paul) to use innovative collaborative approaches to improve overall asthma management among urban children up to 18 years of age.

Enabling the nation's schools to prevent asthma attacks and absences

CDC will fund six urban school districts and one state education agency in 2003 to develop or implement exemplary local education agency policies and programs to reduce asthma episodes and related absences. CDC also is funding six national nongovernment organizations (American Lung Association, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, STARBRIGHT Foundation, National Association of School Nurses, American Academy of Pediatrics, and American Association of School Administrators) to support and address asthma control within a coordinated school health program. For updates on school-related asthma activities, go to https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/asthma.

Inner-city asthma intervention

CDC is funding 23 sites in 15 states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Texas) to provide inner-city families with asthma education and individualized asthma control plans.

Replication and implementation of scientifically proven asthma interventions

CDC is funding grantees to implement the following two scientifically evaluated asthma interventions shown to decrease acute care visits, decrease hospitalizations, and increase compliance with asthma care plans: the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America's "Asthma Care Training for Kids" ([ACT], grantees in Illinois [two sites], New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington) and the American Lung Association's "Open Airways for Schools" ([OAS], grantees in California [two sites], Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey [two sites], and New York). The goals for ACT are to increase asthma control compliance behaviors and to decrease emergency department visits and number of days spent in the hospital. The goals for OAS are to improve school performance and self-management behaviors and to decrease the number of asthma episodes.

Partnerships

Addressing asthma from a public health perspective

CDC is funding state health departments in Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington, D.C., to develop asthma control plans that include disease tracking, intervention, and occupational components. CDC also is funding California, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon to implement the states' comprehensive asthma control plans.

National asthma health education enhancement program

CDC is funding the Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics, American Lung Association, and Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America to conduct activities related to asthma education. These activities range from identifying effective educational programs for adults that can be adapted for nationwide use to educating children with asthma and their families and caregivers.

Examples of CDC's National Asthma Control Partners

• Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics
• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• American Association of School Administrators
• American Lung Association
• Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
• National Association of School Nurses
• National Education Association
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
• STARBRIGHT Foundation
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency