Resources — 2015 SEHAC Symposium Presentation Slides
On May 14, 2015, SEHAC hosted its 3rd Annual School Symposium on Asthma. Each year, stakeholders — including school nurses, public health professionals, and non-profit organization representatives — gather to learn about and discuss clinical and environmental issues related to asthma in schools. The organizations participating included University of California, San Francisco; American Lung Association; Kaiser Permanente; California Department of Public Health; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; California School-based Health Alliance; John Muir Medical Center; California PTA; California School Nurses Organization; Northern California Breathmobile; various school districts and county departments of health; and many others.
The Impact of Adversities on the Development and Management of Chronic Illnesses
Healthy Cleaning and Asthma-Safer Schools – A How-To Guide
Oakland Kicks Asthma
Assessing Children for Asthma in the School Environment
The Impact of Adversities on
the Development and Management of Chronic Illnesses
Neeta Thakur, MD, MPH
Clinical Instructor
UCSF Department of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
This presentation reviews health disparities in asthma, discusses chronic stress and how chronic stress from adversity affects asthma development and outcomes, and explores potential areas for intervention to reduce the effects of adversity on asthma.
Issues addressed in the presentation include:
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Racial disparities
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Determinants of health
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Health Model of Stress
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Discrimination and health
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Levels of stress
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Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
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Stress and genetics
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Medical-legal partnerships to address ACEs
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School-based screening
Healthy Cleaning and
Asthma-Safer Schools —
A How-To Guide
Debbie Shrem, MPH
California Department of Public Health
Work-Related Asthma Prevention Program
This presentation introduces the Healthy Cleaning and Asthma-Safer Schools: A How-To Guide, developed by The Cleaning for Asthma-Safe Schools (CLASS) project in the California Department of Public Health.
The How-To Guide helps school districts transition to asthma-safer products and practices. It discusses the important difference between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting, and suggests when to do each. It further explains how to switch to asthma-safer cleaning in simple, manageable steps, including how to:
1. Create your Asthma-Safer Cleaning Team
2. Train cleaning crew on asthma-safer products, methods, equipment, and the need for them
3. Inventory products to reduce costs
4. Select products to test
5. Arrange vendor presentations and select vendors
6. Test, evaluate, and choose asthma-safer products
7. Communicate your success and set policies
Finally, the Guide includes ready-to-use forms and tools to help districts progress through each step, and shares cleaning success stories and lessons learned from school districts throughout the country.
Oakland Kicks Asthma
Joan Edelstein, MPH, DrPH
Clinical Instructor, UCSF
School Nurse, Piedmont School District;
Instructor, CSUS School Nurse Credential Program
This presentation outlines a study conducted by the American Lung Association in California, University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, Oakland Unified School District. The study sought to develop, implement, and evaluate a large scale case identification and education program for children with asthma in Oakland Public Schools.
Kickin’ Asthma addresses the needs of kids afflicted with asthma aged 11–16 (6th–10th grade). It seeks to empower students to take control of their asthma so they can grow up with the skills needed to manage their symptoms and live a full and active life. The program is specially geared toward teens living in low-income neighborhoods who face social and economic challenges. These teens often have higher rates of asthma and are more likely to end up in the emergency room.
The study’s validated conclusions, include that:
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Secondary schools are an effective venue for identifying and recruiting youth with asthma for large scale public health interventions.
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School based education for youth in an urban school district with asthma can be successful at decreasing symptoms and improving health outcomes.
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Although medication practice improved over the course of the program, many students still did not use their medications properly.
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The parent or guardian of the child should be engaged to maximize the program’s efficiency.
Assessing Children for Asthma in the School Environment
Sulochina Lulla, MD
Staff Allergist
Allergy Department, Permanente Medical Group
Kaiser Permanente, Santa Clara
This presentation outlines the tools and policies needed to assess children for asthma, and includes case studies of students exhibiting asthma symptoms.