University of Michigan News Service – UM News

Allies Against Asthma grants awarded to community coalitions

ANN ARBOR—As the number of children with asthma in the United States hits epidemic proportions, seven communities are mobilizing coalitions to address this problem with innovative approaches, thanks to funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which has awarded each site up to $1.35 million, with total funding of $9.4 million, through its Allies Against Asthma program based at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Community coalitions receiving these grants are based in: Hampton Roads, Va.; Long Beach, Calif.; Milwaukee, Wis.; Philadelphia, Pa.; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Seattle/King County, Wash.; and Washington, D.C. The coalitions will use these new funds to build on successes of the Allies Against Asthma planning grant each received—selected from a pool of over 250 applicants—in January 2001.

The goal for these three-year projects is to implement local activities that help communities improve access to and quality of clinical care, reduce asthma symptoms, and foster patient and community education. The coalitions work to find the best ways to link existing resources with families, care-givers, and educators of children with asthma.

The primary aims of the Allies Against Asthma program are: to develop a sustainable strategy for asthma control within communities; to enhance the quality of life of children with asthma; and to reduce hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and number of missed school days by children with asthma.

The Allies Against Asthma program is under the direction of Noreen M. Clark, dean of the School of Public Health and the Marshall H. Becker Professor of Public Health. “It’s remarkable to see the level of cooperation and the degree of energy these coalitions are directing toward asthma control,” says Clark. “These funds should enable the coalitions to create a strong infrastructure for their work and allow them to introduce some promising innovations.

“Coalitions are a powerful way to control asthma. They bring together all the stakeholders addressing the problem,” Clark adds. The coalitions—comprised of clinics, hospitals, public health agencies, health care plans, schools, parents, child care providers, housing and environmental organizations, researchers, and community-based organizations&#151combine clinical and public health approaches to control asthma in their communities.

For more specific highlights of each coalition’s activities and interventions plan, see the “Meet the Coalitions” section of the Allies Against Asthma Web site, www.asthma.umich.edu.

Asthma, a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, affects 17 million Americans, including an estimated 5 million children, based on estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Asthma causes more school absences than any other chronic childhood disease, accounting for over 10 million missed school days, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse—tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs.