Grants awarded to implement inner-city asthma intervention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced today the awarding of grant funds 23 sites to improve the health of inner-city children with asthma. This is a $2.9 million project.

These funds will enable community-based health organizations throughout the United States to implement a scientifically proven asthma intervention program. This asthma intervention program is based on the National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study (NCICAS), which was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). NCICAS is the largest asthma study of children ever completed in the inner-city.

"Asthma is a major public health problem that has been increasing over several decades," said Richard Jackson, MD, director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH). "We have an urgent need to take action and begin to implement the best methods available based on sound research to control and prevent it."

"This new project is a wonderful opportunity to translate a product of NIAID’s investment in clinical research into an intervention that will help thousands of disadvantaged children with asthma," said Anthony S. Fauci, MD, director of NIAID.

The key component of the program is using an asthma counselor who tailors the intervention to the needs of the children with asthma and who works closely with the affected families for an extended period of time. The counselors are professional social workers who will help families address a wide variety of problems related to the physical and emotional aspects of asthma.

"Asthma can have a very negative effect on the quality of life of the people with asthma and their families because it can limit their ability to fully participate in life activities. This is seen in lost time at work for parents who must care for their children, and missed school days for those children," said Stephen C. Redd, MD, CDC environmental health expert. "The aim of this project is to improve the children’s quality of life and decrease unscheduled medical care visits and hospitalizations."

Asthma has a greater impact on low-income and minority families, as evidenced by the greater frequency of severe asthma episodes that lead to hospitalization or death. This new project is directed toward organizations that treat low-income, inner-city children, particularly those enrolled in Medicaid or the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan.

The intervention will involve both group and individual training sessions with the child and family. This training will educate the child and the family about the causes of asthma, including the various environmental factors that can trigger it. Families will learn specific methods that they can implement to control asthma and to minimize those triggers. After the initial education component, the families will work with individual counselors to tailor an intervention plan based on their specific circumstances. The counselors will focus on the environment, school, and special adherence training as needed. Finally, the counselor will provide continuous follow-up with the family to provide support to them as they make the necessary changes in behavior.

This new project supports the HHS strategic plan, "Action Against Asthma," which identifies as part of its framework the need to develop and implement interventions to reduce the burden of asthma, to eliminate its disproportionate health burden in minority populations and those living in poverty, and to assess the effectiveness of asthma programs.

CDC’s national asthma control program includes (1) tracking the disease to understand to whom, where, and when asthma occurs; providing the cornerstone for planning and evaluating programs and directing resources effectively; (2) assuring that intervention programs are based on solid science; and (3) assisting partners in developing, implementing, and evaluating their local control programs.

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is part of HHS. NIAID conducts and supports research to prevent, diagnose, and treat a variety of infectious diseases and immunologic diseases, such as asthma and allergies.

Editor’s Note: The following organizations will receive grants for this project:

Alabama

University of Alabama/Children’s Health Systems/Children’s Harbor Family Center, Birmingham

Arizona

El Rio Health Center, Tucson

St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix

California

Children’s Asthma Consortium in Long Beach, Long Beach

Florida

Florida Health Choice Network, Inc., Miami

Illinois

Cook County Hospital, Chicago

Massachusetts

Baystate Medical Center, Springfield

Maryland

Johns Hopkins Medical Services Corporation, Baltimore

Minnesota

American Lung Association of Minnesota, Saint Paul

Missouri

Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics, Kansas

Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis

Mississippi

Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Health Center, Jackson

North Carolina

WakeMed, Raleigh

New Jersey

Saint Barnabas Health Care System, West Orange

New York

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, Bronx

Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, Bronx

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York

University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo

Ohio

Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Cleveland

Oregon

CareOregon, Multnomah County

Texas

Parkland Health and Hospital System, Dallas

University of Texas/Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio

Washington, D.C.

Howard University, District of Columbia