Asthma Self Efficacy Report

Asthma is a serious problem nationwide. It is also a significant problem in the state of Massachusetts, especially in communities in Boston. However, according to Harvard School of Public Health and NIEHS Center for Environmental Health, Roxbury and North Dorchester are highly noticeable hotspots (Backus, Terrell, Wool, & Straubel, 2012, p. 23). For the purpose of this paper, the main focus will be on asthma cases in

One strategy that has shown to improve medication compliance and outcomes for patient with asthma is the provision of Asthma Action Plans (AAP). The Asthma Action Plan or AAP is widely recognized as the best tool for asthma self-management and has been demonstrated to improve outcomes for asthmatics. The AAP is a detailed plan that describes medications and treatments, how to control asthma, and how to address worsening asthma. The plan also describes when to call the doctor or go to the emergency room. The plan breaks down the severity of symptoms and treatment by color helping those with limited language skills and low health literacy the ability to understand the asthma treatment plan. (Nepaul et al.,

In this paper, I will explore asthma prevalence of children living in New York City. Asthma is an existing serious public health concern in inner cities and urban environments. Especially children with asthma from low SES families or minority groups face difficulties accessing health care, receiving high-quality continuous care, and preventative education. In other words, there is a disparity in the asthma prevalence and care in New York City.

Asthma is a respiratory disease that many people deal with every single day. “According to World Health Organization, approximately 180,000 people die from asthma each year.” (Jardins and Burton 187) Most people never think of asthma as a life threatening disease, but it can be crucial. As the number of people with asthma increases, the more likely you are to come in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with this disease. Asthma is a severe breathing problem that has many complications that is dealt with daily like shortness of breath, chronic cough, tightness of the chest and shortness of breath, my main focus is childhood asthma, allergic asthma, and medication to treat asthma.

As of 2009, studies conducted by the CDC have shown that asthma impacts approximately one in every twelve people, and the numbers only continue to grow (CDC, 2011). Some of the most common symptoms can range anywhere from coughing (especially at night or during exercise), wheezing and chest tightness, to shortness of breath. Asthma is often a chronic condition and while many times it can present itself as being mild, it can also sometimes lead to death if a person suffers an asthma attack. Asthma can be genetic, but it can also be caused, as well as exacerbated by, environmental factors such as air pollution. Studies have shown that children living in the Bronx are experiencing asthma at levels eight times higher than the national average. In addition, rates of death from asthma are a whopping three times higher than the national average, and hospitalization rates at about five times higher.” (Ruppell, 2000). Asthma is not a disease that targets only one group of people, yet the Bronx still exhibits disproportionately high levels of asthma especially in neighborhoods that are poorer areas of the city. In fact, people from these poor areas are 21 times more likely to be hospitalized due to asthmatic conditions compared to people from more affluent parts of the city (Ruppell,

Asthma affects 1 in every 12 Americans. According to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology, Asthma is affects “About 1 in 9 (11%) non-Hispanic blacks of all ages and about 1 in 6 (17%) of non-Hispanic black children had asthma in 2009, the highest rate among racial/ethnic groups.” As a mother of child with asthma, I know how scary it can be to deal with asthma attacks and learning how to treat the symptoms and minimize risk factors.

Although, towards the end (July/August) it became dismantled as a result of other projects Yale New Haven residency program adapted. However, open communication remains between the residents and Pediatric Chiefs and the program coordinator. The collaboration provided the pediatric residents and interns’ opportunity to acquire knowledge about Community Public Health Programs. With the primary goal of introducing the residents and interns to a broad range of public health programs they can refer their patients to. This system offered the residents, and interns an introduction to the connection of public health and medicine. With the end result demonstrating the importance of community agencies and medical providers need to partner to address the burden of asthma. The Region had 5 residents/interns come through this reporting period, The residents have reported that given this opportunity to see first-hand how the program works, whether within the home or through individual discussion, that it has helped in aiding to understand the challenges families face as they strive to manage the asthmatic’s symptoms. Furthermore, they describe a broader understanding of the various environmental obstacles families are confronted when managing their asthma. For

Asthma is prevalent in all countries regardless of level of the development. According to the World Health Organization 235 million people worldwide have asthma. It is however estimated that 80% of asthma deaths occur in low income countries (World Health Organization, 2015). Within the United States there are many climates and environmental triggers that can cause an exacerbation is asthma symptoms. According to the NHLBI hospitalization is three times higher among African Americans than white, and Puerto Ricans have the highest rate of asthma attacks and deaths related to asthma. Severe asthma is more common among women, children, low income inner city residents, Puerto Ricans, and African American. This disparity within the

Asthma is a chronic condition affecting the respiratory system and has a considerable impact on both individuals and a population. Everybody is susceptible to asthma, some more than others, depending of a variety of factors including, age, sex, geographical location and income. Asthma is particularly prevalent in younger children and the elderly and while it can be fatal, most people have mild cases of asthma that are relatively easy to treat. The condition mainly impacts an individual’s physical ability to contribute to a community.

Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways that makes breathing difficult. With asthma, there is inflammation of the air passages that results in a temporary narrowing of the airways that carry oxygen to the lungs. When this inflammation occurs, the asthma symptoms start to show, such as, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. Even though there are many treatments for asthma symptoms, it is still a very serious disease that affects more than 22 million Americans and brings nearly 2 million E.R. visits per year. Asthma can be lived with very well as long as proper treatment measures are taken (Wrongdiagnosis).

Asthma-related ER visits and inpatient hospitalizations in zip code (65616) for years (2010-2014) are higher among females (53.3% and 59.8٪) (Figure1&7), respectively than males (46.6% and 40.2٪) respectively (Figure1&7), which is consistent with the statistics that confirm asthma is more prevalent among females than males. The white asthmatic patients have higher percentages of ER visits for asthma by 87.3% compared with black or African American by 12.7% (Figure2) (CDC, 2013). This result differs from the national

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs which impacts many cultures/communities at a disproportionate rate within New York City limits East Harlem for example. Socio-economic status seems to play a significant role in determining which social class groups and geographic locations such as 96th street where lower rates of asthmatics have been reported. Lower socio-economic groups have multiple issues East Harlem to the South Bronx are at-risk urban communities, the assumption being that there are inadequate

Pediatric nurse practitioners in primary health care play a very important role in the care of children with chronic health conditions. Many times, primary health care providers are the first to assess, recognize, and diagnose a child with a chronic health condition. Children with chronic conditions, along with their families, face multiple challenges that should be of concern to the health care providers in which they interact (Allen, Vessey, Schapiro, 2010). For the purpose of this paper, focus will be on JD, a 10 year old African American male who was recently diagnosed with asthma after an acute exacerbation. He lives in a basement bedroom of his family’s home. His mother is single

Bunting BA, Cranor CW. The Asheville project: long-term clinical, humanistic, and economic outcomes of community-based medication therapy management program for asthma. J Am Pharm Assoc 2006;46:133-147

Experts have yet to understand why the rates of asthma are rising by an average of 50% every decade worldwide. According to the Asthma Society of Canada (2016), asthma is now considered to be a major health concern with approximately 235 million suffering from this illness worldwide. Kuhn et al (2015) states that as at 2012, one out of 12 people in the United States had asthma and the number continues to rise. More people have been diagnosed with this disease and in 2007; over 3000 deaths were linked to Asthma. Furthermore, the costs of treating asthma continue to rise with about 56 billion dollars being spent in 2007 compared to $53 billion in 2002 (CDC, 2011). From data gathered in California, which is our area of study, it was estimated that 2.3 million