The Community Health Worker Asthma Home Visiting Learning Community: A Recap

 December 15th marked the last of six sessions for MAAP’s Community Health Worker (CHW) Learning Community for Asthma Home Visiting which provided continuing education and networking opportunities.  Fourteen CHWs  -- all working in the 11 communities prioritized in the Strategic Plan for Asthma in MA participated; these CHWs were certified or seeking MA CHW Certification. We hosted guest speakers – including Bridgette Jones, MD, MSCR ,who discussed achieving justice in asthma care; Jody Kenneally Chase, CPNP, who gave a talk on asthma medications & delivery devices; Carmen Pagan, who spoke about her experience with home assessments and asthma trigger remediation; Shanyn Toulouse, DNP, MEd, RN, NCSN, who spoke about the role of the school nurse in asthma care and opportunities for collaboration with CHWs; and Nathalie Bazil, BSW, CCHW, Kamille M. Carthy, and Shanina Rosado, who promoted various professional development opportunities for CHWs through the MDPH Office of Community Health Workers and the Massachusetts Association of CHWs. Carla Caraballo, CHW and SDOH Program Manager from Lowell Community Health Center, co-facilitated the series, and throughout shared her journey as a CHW working on asthma and a variety of experiences that enriched the series. MAAP thanks all our wonderful guest speakers, as well as all CHWs who attended our sessions, for creating an active and collaborative learning space.

Update on MA Statewide Asthma Strategic Planning

A snapshot of some participants from MAAP Strategic Planning Session 1

Over the past several months, the MA DPH Asthma Prevention and Control Program (APCP) and MAAP, led a planning process to inform the development of the Strategic Plan for Asthma for MA: 2021-2026, facilitated by Health Resources in Action. This plan is meant to provide guidance and inspiration for asthma work focused on prevention and control across the Commonwealth over these five years.

It includes broad goals and strategies focused on four priority areas: schools, housing, outdoor air quality, and clinical care & linkages. Promoting racial and health equity were guiding principles for the plan, designed for the entire state and prioritizing the following communities: Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Holyoke Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Southbridge, Springfield, and Worcester. These eleven cities were identified as having the highest burden of asthma in Massachusetts based according to higher asthma hospitalization/ED rates, higher prevalence of COVID-19, and lower ICE scores (Index of Concentrations at the Extremes), a ratio of the concentration of the most privileged to the concentration of the most deprived in a given community.

Many of these strategic planning discussions focused on how we can foster effective partnerships to advance work to address asthma across the state. For example, one objective for outdoor air quality is “By 2024, implement quarterly communications about real time local air quality and related public health threats to the 11 targeted communities and other vulnerable neighborhoods near major sources of mobile/point sources of pollution”. Through this process, MAAP has learned about local monitoring efforts starting and led by community-based organizations with residents. This includes in Chelsea led by GreenRoots, with assistance from the MA Department of Environmental Protection, and in Codman Square led by the Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation and in Lynn, in collaboration with EarthWatch Institute. We look forward to lifting up their efforts, and helping to spread best practices and lessons across the State.

When completed, the plan will be posted on both MA DPH APCP’s and MAAP’s website. We thank everyone who participated and appreciate the level of thoughtfulness and respect put into this process; there were 65 participants, representing more than 40 institutions (community-based organizations, health care, schools and academia, government agencies, etc.), who donated their time and mental energy to develop the plan! After nearly a year of Covid-19 disruption and loss, we are feeling hopeful in the New Year and excited to press forward to tackle this work together.

Family Childcare Providers Learn About Asthma Using: Creating a Healthy Home and Managing Asthma Online Training

MAAP’s Creating a Healthy Home and Managing Asthma is a free, four-part training designed for MA family childcare providers to learn how to maintain healthy childcare environments. Key learning topics include healthy home principles, lead poisoning prevention, and asthma management.

Since the release of the training, it has been used and adapted with great enthusiasm – with 119 Family Childcare Providers trained. Many trainers in the family childcare field are required to provide a certain number of training hours and have used the Creating a Healthy Home and Managing Asthma to supplement their trainings and/or provide trainees an alternative to in-person trainings for more flexibility.

Sharline Del Rosario, a training coordinator at Lowell’s Acre Family Child Care recently used the online training as part of a full day training for family childcare providers.

“This training is completely essential for all family educators to go through. I think it is a wonderful training to go through to not only learn the information for themselves, but to improve the health of the people we work with. I’m going to spread the word about how great it is.”

— Sharline Del Rosario

There were approximately 15 participants and they included a diverse group of family childcare educators, drivers, and systems staff. Sharline used the online training as a learning tool and went through it together with participants, pausing to emphasize key points and answering questions. The training was insightful, easy to follow, and participants became aware of how the home environment can affect a child’s health, and how to identify and prevent asthma triggers. Trainers and participants appreciated how the online training reference local data such as Lawrence and Lowell and make a link between old buildings and health. 

Through the online training, it also became apparent that it could be used to educate parents as well since children can be exposed to asthma triggers in their own homes.

“I shared the training with my daughter whose son suffers from severe asthma. We learned about triggers we did not know existed and it has not only helped us learn how to help him but it has also helped me make sure my daycare is safe for all children entering my home. The information on Lead Poisoning was just as helpful. Thank you for sharing this information!”

— Acre Family Child Care Provider

The online training provides an opportunity to share practical knowledge and improve the health of children in the places where they live, learn and play. Currently, the information is only available in English, but it will be available in Spanish in the future. Please help spread the word about this training! For more information, contact Edgar Duran Elmudesi.