Current Projects

Quick Facts

Quick Fact #5

Among chronic diseases, asthma is the leading cause absenteeism among school-aged children.

Mission

The West Virginia Asthma Education and Prevention Program aspires to raise awareness of asthma as a priority health concern in the state and to reduce suffering, disability, death, and economic costs related to the disease.

WVAC Current and On-going Projects

Asthma & Spirometry Education in Rural Health Clinics in West Virginia.

Developed by the WVAC Clinical Asthma Management subcommittee 2008-2009.

Status: Ongoing

The original proposal of this project (from December 2008) centered on a sampling of data from 8 selected Federally Qualified Health Centers in West Virginia. Of the 2,457 patients with asthma (diagnosed) at these sites, only 58 (3.32%) had documented spirometry results. The subcommittee referenced the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute's Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma EPR 3 from 2007 on the development of an intervention activity for the upcoming year. The subcommittee also utizilized Goal 3 from A Strategic Plan for Addressing Asthma in West Virginia 2010-2014 which states "West Virginian's with asthma self-manage symptoms effectively" - to improve the quality of life for patients with asthma by slowing/reducing the progression of asthma and restoring lung function; and to reduce emergency room utilization and hospitalizations related to asthma.

The first steps in the development included:

Selecting a suitable site to implement intervention based on criteria - strong leadership support in clinic; buy-in from site staff; asthma champion; prevalence of asthma in region.
Intervention development to include: Best Practices; Core Themes; Patient-Centered Care; Clinical Pathways; and Staff Training (5 Change Concepts Algorithm)
Education component: provided by Registered Respiratory Therapist(s) and related health care professionals
Education Curriculum to include: Burden of Asthma in West Virginia and US statistics; utilization of the Asthma 101 program and segments from the Breathe Well, Live Well program from the American Lung Association for staff; Tools to identify asthma severity, control, and responsiveness to treatment; Tools to develop asthma action plans for patients and families; overview of spirometry testing and training on clinic's own equipment.

After many months of meetings, conference calls, and planning the initial pilot clinic began receiving the educational component in March 2010. As of December 2010, three Federally Qualified Health Centers have received this education component and are all currently implementing the tools that have been provided to them. An ongoing evaluation process has been implemented to monitor the progress of these clinics in improving their management of patients with asthma.