DC Asthma Partnership

DC Asthma Partnership E-Newsletter

Volume 1, Issue 1 Spring 2011

DC Asthma Partnership Recognizes Asthma Awareness Month!

Asthma Awareness Month Poster Contest Awards Celebration on Tuesday, May 17, 2011at Friendship Southeast Elementary Academy. Asthma Awareness Month Education Health Fair on Thursday, May 19, 2011 at the Reeves Center.

DCAP Partners with Friendship Public Charter School to Recognize World Asthma Day 2011
A World Asthma Day Call to Action Program and Interactive Education Session was held on May 3, 2011 at Friendship Southeast Elementary Academy, located at 645 Milwaukee Place, S.E. Washington, DC from 9:30 -11:45 am. The program included a brief presentation by key speakers including greetings on behalf of Honorable Mayor Vincent Gray by Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, Senior Deputy Director, DC Department of Health (DC DOH) (pictured below) and interactive asthma education for students. Approximately 200 students in 3rd-6th grade received asthma education, learned the importance of breathing from Mama Ayo, and became hip-hop dancers and rappers as they hip-hopped to Better Asthma Control. Additionally, students were encouraged to enter the First Annual DC Asthma Partnership Poster Contest. Breathe DC at the United Medical Center hosted the event along with the help of many DCAP partners including DC DOH, Childrens National Medical Center/Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia (IMPACT DC), Positive Energy Works, Alston

Marketing Group, B.E.A.T for Health, and volunteers from the Rho Mu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Friendship Public Charter School, a strategic partner in promoting school-based asthma management, is the largest public charter school system in the District serving over 6,000 students at six campuses.

Inside this issue:

First Annual DCAP Poster Contest Social Media Campaign

Website Upgrades

Overview of DC Asthma Surveillance System Breathe DC Smoke-Free Housing Campaign Impact DC Asthma Clinic More Accessible Save the Date!

Asthma Education Fair at Reeves Center

In recognition of Asthma Awareness Month, DCAP will host an educational fair on May 19th from 9:30 am until 3 pm at the Reeves Center located at 14th St. and U St., NW. Attendees will learn more about asthma care from healthcare providers, Medicaid managed care, pharmacists, holistic practitioners and others! The fair offers an excellent opportunity for organizations to arrange an exhibitor table and provide services to a valuable audience of District of Columbia workers and community residents concerned about asthma care. For more information or to become a vendor, email DCAP at info@dcasthmapartnershi p.org or call 1-800-2490343 by March 13, 2010.

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First Annual DCAP Poster Contest Encourages Kids to Showcase Artistic Talent and Commitment to Asthma Awareness
In recognition of World Asthma Day and Asthma Awareness Month, the DC Asthma Partnership invites Friendship Southeast Elementary Academy students in grades 3, 4, and 5, to showcase their artistic talent and their commitment to asthma awareness by participating in the First Annual DC Asthma Partnership Poster Contest. Students will develop a poster around a theme related to asthma self-care:

Stay in the green know what your numbers mean. Keep asthma in line recognize the signs. Youre a winner when you avoid your triggers. Take a stand have a plan.

Use quick-relief meds for no delay use controller meds to keep attacks away.

Judges will use a 100-point scale to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners for each grade level. Winners receive cash prizes: 1st place ($100), 2nd place ($50), 3rd ($25) and recognition at the Asthma Awareness Month Poster Contest Awards Celebration on Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at Friendship Southeast Elementary Academy. Winners also will receive the honor of having their artwork displayed at the Reeves Center during the Asthma Awareness Month Education Fair on May 19, 2011 and displayed on the DC Asthma Partnership website www.dcasthmapartnership.org .

DCAP Launches Social Media Campaign

The Alston Marketing Group (AMG), with funding from the DOH Preventive Block Grant, will launch a social media campaign to encourage asthma management. People with asthma will be encouraged to share with the world when they are at their personal best. The social media campaign will include the following: links and activities to help people with asthma reach their personal best.

A Facebook page for the DCAP to encourage the public to interact with the page. A Personal Best Brag Book located at the Asthma Awareness Month Education Fair where people share their per-

sonal best stories through video - videos to be posted on You Tube and linked to the web page.

A web page with information

A contest for the public to email photos, videos and stories of themselves when they are at their personal best and the AMG team will select the best stories, photos, videos to share on other sites i.e. YouTube.

Technological Upgrades for DCAP Website

The DC Asthma Partnership is revamping its website. The website will be upgraded with new information for healthcare providers, parents, students, teachers and school administrators to help everyone understand the importance of asthma management. The new site will include updated asthma resources, including educational materials, webinars, and other resources. DCAP partners will be able to login to submit articles for inclusion into quarterly newsletters, review workgroup minutes, and check the status of upcoming meetings. Be sure to keep checking back over the coming weeks as more information is added! Questions or comments? Call the DC Asthma Partnership using our new toll-free number 1-800-2490343 or email the Partnership at our new email address: info@dcasthmapartnership.org.

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Piecing Together the Puzzle of Asthma in the District of Columbia: Overview of the Asthma Surveillance System
By LaVerne Jones, DC DOH, DC CAN
The District of Columbia, Asthma Control Program, DC Control Asthma Now (DC CAN) uses different kinds of data to describe how many people live with asthma in the Nations Capital. These data are used by healthcare professionals, lawmakers and communitybased organizations to develop specific programs and policies to help improve the quality of life for people who live with asthma. Each data source represents a unique piece of the puzzle. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is a telephone survey tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States. Data are collected monthly in the District of Columbia and all 50 states. The survey includes questions used to estimate the prevalence of asthma for District adults and children. Prevalence is the number of people told by a doctor that they have asthma. Data are also available on behaviors that may make asthma worse including smoking. Recently, the BRFSS began the Asthma Call-back Survey (ACBS), an in-depth telephone survey of adults and children with asthma. The data in this survey describe many health experiences for persons who report they have asthma. Data include number of doctors visits, medication use, training for taking care of asthma and triggers that make asthma worse. (continued on page 4)

Emergency Department Inpatient Hospital Discharge

Vital RecordsMortality

Behavioral Risk Surveillance Survey

Breathe DC at United Medical Center Initiate a Smoke-Free Housing Campaign By Daniel Weisshaar, Breathe DC at UMC
On March 15, 2011, Breathe DC initiated a smoke-free public housing campaign with funding provided by the CDCs Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant and made available through the DC Department of Health. Breathe DC is partnering with community and resident leaders in 4 public housing developments in Wards 5 through 8, in an effort to empower residents to adopt smoke free public housing measures. Health and community advocates agree that smoking and secondhand smoke exacerbates asthma and other respiratory diseases. However, only about 140 public housing developments across the country (about 4%) have reported that they have voluntarily banned smoking in the units they manage. When successful, Breathe DCs smoke-free public housing campaign will lead DC to the cutting edge of antismoking policy throughout public housing developments in the city. For more information contact Daniel Weisshaar at 202-574-7033 or daniel@breathedc.org or Charles Debnam at 202-574-6920 or charles@breathedc.org.

IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic More Accessible By Deborah Quint, IMPACT DC

In December 2010, IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic began operating at the new emergency department operated by CNMC at United Medical Center (UMC). This state-of-the-art, full-service emergency department was opened in 2010. The satellite emergency department is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is staffed by doctors, nurses, and clinical care team members from the Children's National Medical Center. Each year the Children's emergency department (ED) at the main hospital location (Michigan Avenue, NW) has 8,000-10,000 visits from patients that live in neighborhoods around United Medical Center, and now children living in these communities can receive the same quality care closer to home. IMPACT DC has experienced high demand for asthma care at this location. The IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic operates at United Medical Center on Thursday mornings in collaboration with the primary care team at THEARC. The IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic has received nearly 100 referrals from ED providers at UMC, and has seen over 40 new families at this location in 2011.

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Emergency Department Visit Data informs public health and health care providers of the people needing immediate attention for asthma symptoms. These data are collected from all the Districts emergency departments and include date and time of visit and whether the patient goes home or stays in the hospital after the visit. These data give clues of what children and adults need assistance in controlling their asthma. The Inpatient Hospital Discharge Data describes who has to stay in the hospital due to asthma related symptoms. These data include the length of hospital stays, other health conditions and some costs of treating asthma. Vital Records Mortality Data describe the number of people who die due to asthma. In the past, the District has had only a small number of people who died because of asthma, but these data tell some information about who those residents are. In future issues of the DC Asthma Partnership Newsletter, data from each of these datasets will be presented to explain the various pieces of the asthma puzzle. The DC CAN staff is also available to provide specific information for researchers, program staff and policy makers. The Surveillance Workgroup of the DC Asthma Partnership plays an important role in setting priorities for collecting and reporting data that the public can use. In order to make the most useful data available, the workgroup needs members from all sides of the data puzzle. Representatives from agencies that collect current data, as well as, data users are needed to decide what information is needed to guide future work to improve the health and quality of life of people with asthma. For more information on data resources or joining the Surveillance Workgroup, please contact LaVerne Jones laverne.jones@dc.gov).

Save the Date!

DC CAN Steering Committee Meeting to be held on May 26, 2011 from 2-4 pm. Location to be announced.

The DC Asthma Partnership (DCAP) is a public-private partnership. Its mission is to reduce asthma morbidity and mortality and to improve the quality of life for residents of the District of Columbia. The DCAP includes more than 80 public and private agency representatives.