Asthma

Clean Air for Kids

Asthma and Allergies Outreach Program

You are the most important person in determining whether your child's asthma is under control. An increased understanding of asthma and the availability of new medications have made it so many people with asthma are able to lead a healthy, active life with few or no symptoms.

A Clean Air for Kids® Asthma Outreach Worker is available to help you take control of your child's asthma. Services are free of charge and provided in your home at a time that is convenient for you.

The Asthma Outreach Worker can:

• Help you understand the advice provided by your doctor.
  Sometimes the information you receive in your doctor's office or at the hospital can seem confusing. Our Asthma Outreach Worker will work with you, and if necessary, with your child's doctor to make sure you understand your doctor's advice.

• Help to develop an asthma management plan.
  Health experts and physicians all recommend that people with asthma have a plan in place that clearly states what should be done, when it should be done and how it should be done. If you already have an asthma management plan our Asthma Outreach Worker will help you understand it and update it with you if necessary. If you don't have a plan, she will work with you to put one in place.

• Conduct a Home environmental assessment.
  Besides taking the right medications, people with asthma and allergies usually need to avoid certain things in the environment that can make them ill. Our Asthma Outreach Worker will share information about things in and around your home that may be making you sick. She'll also provide simple suggestions on ways to reduce your exposure to the environmental "triggers" most likely to affect your asthma.

• Provide supplies to assist you with your asthma management.
  You may also need supplies such as a peak flow meter or spacer to help manage your asthma or to help you reduce your exposure to environmental "triggers." The Asthma Outreach Worker can often provide these supplies at no cost to you.

For more information about the services of the Asthma Outreach Worker or to schedule a visit, send an email to cleanair4kids@tpchd.org or call (253) 798-2954.

Northwest Clean Air Agency recently produced a video called "Controlling and Reducing Asthma Triggers". The 26-minute program details how to recognize and control asthma triggers in the home. To view this video you will need Windows Media Player.