Asthma Education on the South and West Sides of Chicago

Respiratory Health Association is a non-profit organization that has been serving Chicago and surrounding areas since 1906 in all areas related to lung health. Today our mission is to prevent lung disease, promote clean air and help people live better through education, research and policy change. My fellow National Health Corps members, Kristy and Laura, and I act as Asthma Educators for the programs branch of the organization. We are responsible for going out into the schools and communities on the south and west sides of Chicago in order to deliver asthma education programs to staff, parents and students.

Asthma is a prevalent and potentially serious disease that affects 1 in 11 children and 1 in 12 adults. In the US, there are about nine deaths per day attributed to asthma. However, through teamwork, education and communication, we hope to reduce these numbers and decrease the prevalence of asthma in the disproportionately affected neighborhoods on the south and west sides of the city. While every neighborhood in Chicago shows some prevalence of pediatric asthma, many neighborhoods in these areas reach greater than 20%.¹

Through National Health Corps trainings, we have learned about the intricate interplay between poverty levels and limited access to resources, such as health care, and how these affect overall health outcomes. By going out into the schools in these communities, we are trying to eliminate the barrier of inaccessibility to clinics and health education, while still providing clients with the necessary information on how to manage, recognize and treat their asthma symptoms.

A particularly meaningful training that we received as Asthma Educators was being able to attend an elementary school in order to deliver our first Fight Asthma Now © program to students. While we had received a lot of training on the content that we would be teaching, nothing compares to how the students respond and take in the information. Classroom management is a skill I hope to continue to develop throughout my service term, but even though this has been the most challenging aspect of my position, working with the students and community members has been the most enjoyable part of my service thus far. It has truly been humbling and rewarding to hear their excitement during classes and to see their retention of information that has the potential to help them lead better, longer and healthier lives.

_{¹Respiratory Health Association Asthma Training Materials (2016)}

This blog post was written by NHC Chicago 2016-17 member Melanie Biegler.

Melanie is an Asthma Educator at Respiratory Health Association.