Asthma
Initiative at BCC
Registers Major Success
Eighty-one fortunate Bronx children with
asthma recently became the subjects of an intensive effort to
prevent attacks and hospitalizations. They were followed closely
for three months by Health Force: A Community Preventive Health
Institute, which is affiliated with Bronx Community College,
and their parents were provided with a six-session asthma attack
prevention course and two home visits. During this three- month
period the number of emergency room visits fell from 139 for
the previous six months to just four, while hospitalizations
fell from 15 to zero.
In addition, teens with asthma took a six-week program in the
summer to improve their deep breathing with exercises. At the
end, peak flow meters showed an average 20% increase in lung
capacity. Such programs are taught by local Bronx peer residents
who have taken an eight-week training program as asthma educators.
"These results really underscore the importance of local,
targeted asthma education," says Chris Norwood, Health
Force's Executive Director. "We have to regard education
as key to improving asthma." The Bronx was targeted, she
notes, because the borough has the highest childhood hospitalization
rate for asthma. For further information, contact Health Force
at 718-585-8585. |
