The Controlling Asthma in American Cities ProjectThe Controlling Asthma in American Cities Project for St. Paul and Minneapolis, is 1 of 7 inner cities projects funded by the Centers for Disease Control.
Saint Paul Public Schools, The American Lung Association of Minnesota and Minneapolis Public Schools are part of coalition of over 60 organizations and 100 individuals who developed a strategic plan to address asthma in the pediatric population. The Saint Paul School’s Asthma Management Program initiative is one of 7 key strategies in this project.
Key Components for SPPS Asthma Management Program include:
- Building capacity of school nurses through inservice training, and individual mentoring/coaching of an asthma resource nurse
- Improved identification and care coordination of students with asthma
- Standardized and increased communication to students/families/providers
- Asthma education classes to students/families/staff
- An evaluation plan that includes process, outcome and absenteeism data
- Asthma education classes are offerred to elementary students.
Outcomes are very encouraging:
- We have improved the identification of students with asthma.
- We have demonstrated an increase of skills of students to use their inhaler/spacer and peak flow meter.
- We have increased the number of students who have an Asthma Actions Plan from a medical provider.
- We have increased the communication to parents and providers