Asthma-Friendly Schools

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that can diminish the physical, psychological, and social wellbeing and quality of life. The costs of asthma to the United States economy, ranging from hospitalizations to lost wages, were projected to reach $20.7 billion in 2010. 

Students with asthma are less likely to achieve their full academic potential. Asthma is one of the most common chronic conditions among school-aged youth. It's a leading cause of school absenteeism and it be linked to other physical and mental health problems. 
 
A coordinated effort between an asthma care clinician, the school nurse and a student's caregivers is the most effective way to control a student's asthma. To support school health professionals in removing this barrier to student achievement, ASHA has launched the Asthma-Friendly Schools Project.
 
Our goals for the project are:
  • To increase the early identification of asthma in schools
  • To improve monitoring of students with asthma and help them manage their asthma appropriately
  • To reduce the number of asthma incidents students experience at school by reducing  asthma triggers The primary objective is to increase the number of school-based personnel who can identify asthma triggers, recognize the early signs and symptoms of an asthma attack and know how to respond appropriately given their level of training and role.  
Toward those goals, we have launched an Asthma Resource Portal and developed a downloadable version of the GIP messages: 

 

The National Asthma Control Initiative

The American School Health Association is proud to be a strategic partner of the National Asthma Control Initiative (NACI), a program of the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP), coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

The NACI initiative engages a variety of  diverse stakeholders concerned about or involved in improving asthma control. A primary goal is to increase dissemination and use of the evidence-based recommendations from the National Asthma Education and Prevention program, outlined in these documents:

NACI focuses on three strategies: NACI Demonstration Projects, the NACI Strategic Partnership Program, and the NACI Champions Program. 

 

Priority Messages

Six priority messages were selected from the EPR-3 and detailed in the GIP Report. If practiced routinely and implemented widely, these action-oriented messages have the power to improve asthma control and transform the lives of people with asthma: 

GIP Messages for Schools (PDF)