“I am honored to award and congratulate the winners of the 2019 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management on behalf of EPA,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum. “These outstanding programs are on the front lines of asthma care, improving lives, delivering real solutions, and helping the many Americans who battle asthma. We are proud to recognize leaders in the field who are providing comprehensive, in-home care and education every day, while setting the standard for asthma care and management.”

The Rhode Island Department of Health Asthma Control Program, based in Providence, R.I., serves children with asthma ages 0-17 in high poverty, urban cities throughout the state. The program partners with organizations including Hasbro Children’s Hospital, St. Joseph Health Center, New England Asthma Regional Council, United HealthCare and the Green and Healthy Homes Initiative to deliver care. The evidence-based Home Asthma Response Program (HARP), which uses certified asthma educators and community health workers, conducts up to three intensive in-home sessions, including tailored environmental services. HARP’s community health workers reported reductions in environmental triggers including mold, pests, dust, pets, tobacco smoke and chemicals. In addition, using hospital claims data, the program was able to show a 75 percent reduction in asthma-related hospital and emergency department costs for HARP participants. And, for every dollar invested in HARP participants, the program realized a $1.33 return on investment. The program recently expanded to provide HARP home visiting services statewide for Medicaid-enrolled children.

Read the full press release at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

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Last year’s rainfall exacerbated damp conditions, breeding a perfect atmosphere for mold, according to advocates, officials and renters. Such growth had long been a bane to poorer tenants renting older homes in neighborhoods where health data shows residents suffer disproportionately from asthma.

The rainy year caused significant trouble across the region: Mosquitoes multiplied to three times the normal number in Maryland, tomatoes cracked and sunflowers rotted and some farmers lost entire crops, and hundreds of students living on campus at the University of Maryland, College Park, were displaced by mold infestations.

In Baltimore, City Councilman Bill Henry plans on Monday to call for an informational hearing. Advocates want air-quality testing and requirements to treat the fungus like lead paint when it threatens a person’s health.

Read the full story, visit at The Baltimore Sun

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The pilot focuses on patients of Presence Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center (PSMEMC), which is located on Chicago’s West Side. PSMEMC’s service area has a higher asthma admission rate than any other service area in the Presence Health system, said Sue Ellen Schumacher, Presence project manager, government grants. The area also has high levels of poverty, poor housing quality and other issues that can have an impact on asthma patients.

Under the direction of Will Snyder, senior vice president and chief advocacy officer, Presence Health partnered with Elevate Energy, a local nonprofit, to launch a home-based asthma intervention. The intervention is based on a successful national model created by the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI). GHHI provided free
technical assistance to Presence Health on its pilot, via a grant GHHI received from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

You may read the full article here: AMITA Health Associate News – September 2018 Final 2

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These women are dealing with a serious and increasingly common illness. More than six million US children have asthma. Children are particularly vulnerable, because they have smaller airways than adults. Asthma attacks can be fatal so proactively addressing the illness is crucial.

Read the full article in American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

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Residents of this area visit hospitals for asthma flare-ups at more than four times the rate of people from the city’s wealthier neighborhoods, according to data analyzed by Kaiser Health News and the University of Maryland’s Capital News Service.

Baltimore paramedic crews make more asthma-related visits per capita in 21223 than anywhere else in the city, according to fire department records. It is the second-most-common ZIP code among patients hospitalized for asthma, which, when addressed properly, should never require emergency visits or hospitalization.

Read the full article in the Washington Post.

Additional coverage can be viewed in the Baltimore Sun.

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