New Asthma Projects Aim to Help Floridians Breathe Easier
NICHQ and the Florida Department of Health are teaming up to reduce the burden of asthma in the Sunshine State.
Asthma is a disease that affects the lungs and can cause breathlessness, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing. Approximately one in 12 Florida adults and one in 10 Florida children currently have asthma. Managing asthma in Florida is especially challenging due to its hot, humid climate with a myriad of environmental triggers.
In two concurrent, synergistic projects, NICHQ is helping healthcare and public health agencies progressively expand sustainable and comprehensive asthma control service networks across Florida. One project involves statewide, sector-specific Learning and Action Networks that include managed care organizations and providers. The second involves community-based, multi-sector Asthma Care Teams that include providers, schools, hospitals, pharmacies, local public health agency and housing entities.
“Public health succeeds through partnerships,” said State Surgeon General and Secretary of Health John Armstrong, MD, FACS. “The Florida Department of Health is committed to working in Florida’s communities for comprehensive asthma control.”
NICHQ is providing quality improvement expertise in the planning and development of learning collaboratives to engage different stakeholders and community members in improvement work to enhance care coordination and asthma management.
NICHQ has a long history of conducting quality improvement projects that develop, implement and evaluate sustainable approaches to improving care and outcomes for patients with childhood asthma.
“We’re thrilled to be working again in the asthma space and with the Florida Department of Health, which is very progressive and comprehensive in its approach to asthma management,” says NICHQ’s project director Sabrina Selk, ScD. “We look forward to leveraging Florida’s unique public health and healthcare system assets to relieve the burden of asthma for Florida residents.”
