AsthmaBUSters

Philadelphia Diesel Difference Working Group

November 21, 2005

Background and Significance 9.2 million children in the US suffer from

Asthma. Children with asthma suffer not only from the

disease and its effects, but also from excessive absenteeism.

14 million school days are lost per year. Asthma represents a problem of staggering

social and economic magnitude, especially for poor and under-served communities.

Many families within these communities cannot afford medical care, and as a result, often go undiagnosed.

Program Summary

Educate children and the community about asthma symptoms and treatment

Survey a large urban city for asthma prevalence

Communicate with parents about the impact of asthma on their children

Teach about the ill effects of tobacco, both on health and asthma

Implementation

School Nurses serve as the liaison between our program and Philadelphia Middle Schools scheduling a one hour bus visit.

Each class is split in half between the two decks of the bus, with each group receiving both education and screening during the one-hour visit.

Asthma-See-It (asthma recognition); Asthma-Treat-It (asthma care); Asthma Beat-It© (asthma management).

Results to Date

The AsthmaBUS has screened 14,588 children from 73 Philadelphia middle schools.

More than 2,000 students have benefited from our tobacco education program.

One out of four children self-reports having asthma. Significantly higher percentages of African American

and Hispanic children reported having asthma (25.1% and 29.3% respectively).

Children who reported having asthma came from schools where mean academic performance scores were significantly lower: 82.1 % were from schools in the lowest math quintile, and 86.8% were from schools in the lowest reading quintile.

Retrofit

Asthma Triggers Healthy work environment Cleaner more efficient teaching

module

Q and A