10th Annual ACCP Community Asthma and COPD Coalitions Symposium

Sponsored by the American College of Chest Physicians.
Supported by an educational grant from The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and GlaxoSmithKline

Program Description
The 10th Annual ACCP Community Asthma and COPD Coalitions Symposium provided opportunities for local coalitions to hear about ongoing and new asthma and COPD coalition projects. Attendees networked with other coalition members regarding programming and coordinating community level activities. The symposium featured successful asthma and COPD education programs. Extensive time was provided for networking and roundtable discussions among coalition representatives. The symposium featured sessions on education of the public and patients, school asthma initiatives, and sustaining coalitions. The 2008 meeting again had a track for developing COPD coalitions so that those interested in developing COPD coalitions could learn from the asthma coalitions and network with each other.

In this web-based format, participants have the opportunity to obtain the information as it was originally presented by watching the video slide presentations on line, downloading the slides for review, or downloading a written executive summary of the presentations to read. Following their review of the presentations, participants will be asked relevant test questions as part of the evaluation process to obtain CME credit.

Educational Objectives

Following the symposium, participants will be able to:

• Describe successful community approaches for controlling asthma.
• Differentiate various methods of assessing asthma control.
• Describe successful approaches for identifying students with asthma and implementing student asthma action plans.
• Identify successful methods of developing and sustaining coalitions.
• Increase their knowledge of the network of asthma contacts, programs, and resources.

Target Audience
Pulmonary/critical care physicians, Physician assistants, Nurses, Respiratory therapists, Advance nurse practitioners, Public health officials, Asthma educators.

Needs Assessment
Asthma is the leading chronic illness among children in the United States, and 8.9% of children have the disease.¹²

Six percent of the population suffers from emphysema or chronic bronchitis.² The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has estimated that 12 million Americans are diagnosed with COPD, and an additional 12 million Americans may have COPD and remain undiagnosed. While other major causes of death have been decreasing, COPD mortality has continued to rise. COPD is now the fourth leading cause of death.³

Despite the fact that asthma is treatable and attacks are preventable, health care use for asthma is high. In 2004, there were 1.8 million visits to EDs, and there were 497,000 hospitalizations. Asthma is clearly not being controlled, especially in black and Hispanic populations. The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality has concluded that there remains a gap between accepted best practices for asthma care and actual care delivered to patients.4 Similarly, the NHLBI has concluded that many patients with COPD are not getting optimal treatment.³

Many communities have sought to fight the asthma epidemic, especially urban and inner city communities. Communities have formed coalitions or task forces to implement a variety of programs to make an impact on the burden of asthma. There are approximately 200 coalitions in the United States. Coalitions are convened in many ways, by state health departments, respiratory not-for profit organizations, hospitals, and universities, and many have incorporated. However, coalitions face a number of issues. Many coalitions have implemented successful programs, but there is no natural mechanism for them to share their experience with other coalitions. Governmental agencies and foundations have invested funds into pilot projects but need additional mechanisms to communicate with the communities that could replicate the programs. The new National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines have been published, but challenges remain in implementation. These include issues such as encouraging widespread understanding and implementation of methods to assess asthma control in individual patients. The ACCP Community Asthma and COPD Coalition Symposium addresses these and other issues that are vital to effective coalitions.

COPD and asthma are important to the members of the ACCP, as most members treat these diseases every day. The ACCP has included COPD and asthma in the core curriculum that is being developed to guide the ACCP in its educational offerings.

References

1. National Center for Health Statistics. Asthma prevalence, health care use and mortality: United States, 2003-2005. November 2006. Available at www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/ashtma03-05/asthma03-05.htm. Accessed February 24, 2009


2. Pleis JR, Lethbridge-Çejku M. Summary health statistics for US adults: national health interview survey, 2005. Vital Health Stat 10 2006; 232:1-153


3. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. COPD Learn More Breathe Better^®. Available at www.learnaboutCOPD.org. Accessed February 24, 2009


4. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Closing the quality gap: a critical analysis of quality improvement strategies: volume 5—asthma care. January 2007. Available at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/asthmgaptp.htm. Accessed February 24, 2009

Faculty
Tyra Bryant-Stephens MD
Philadelphia, PA

Mario Castro, MD, FCCP
St. Louis, MO

Alice Dalla Palu, MPH, CTTS-M
Allentown, PA

Joan Edelstein, MSN, DrPH, RN
Oakland CA

MeiLan K. Han, MD
Ann Arbor, MI

Sam Haywood
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL

Jill Heins-Nesvold, MS
Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Elizabeth Herman, MD
Atlanta, GA

Fernando Lopez
Malpica, Puerto Rico

Floyd Malveaux, MD, PhD
Washington DC

Supina Mapon
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL

Joel Massel
Chicago, IL

Adriana Matiz, MD
New York, NY

Tracey Mitchell, RRT
Washington, DC

Connie Moore, RN, BSN, MA
Los Angeles, CA

Tia Trivision,
Twinsburg, OH

Rhonda Williams, MES
Chicago, IL