Improving community outcomes through the Asthma-Friendly Environments program

The Asthma-Friendly Environments program promotes evidence-based approaches to reduce asthma triggers and improve health across settings.

In the US, 26.8 million people have asthma, including 4.5 million children. Asthma accounts for millions of emergency department visits, tens of billions in healthcare costs and thousands of missed school days each year. The American Lung Association’s (ALA) Promoting Asthma-Friendly Environments through Partnerships and Collaborations brings together a network of programs to help children better manage their asthma.

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Asthma is a chronic lung disease that makes it harder to move air in and out of your lungs, which can start at any age.

• Asthma triggers can include respiratory infections, allergens like pet dander, irritants like wildfire smoke, second-hand smoke, e-cigarette emissions, poor indoor air quality and extreme heat.

Asthma does not affect all populations equally

Asthma affects people of all ages, races, genders and communities, but its burden is not equally shared.

• Children, people living in poverty, and many racial and ethnic communities experience higher asthma prevalence, more frequent asthma attacks, and poorer outcomes.
• Non-Hispanic black individuals have higher asthma prevalence (≈10.6%) compared with non-Hispanic white individuals (≈8.4%), and black individuals experience asthma-related death rates more than double those of white individuals.
• Puerto Ricans have the highest asthma prevalence among Hispanic subgroups and one of the highest rates of any ethnic group in the United States, at approximately 14%.
• Asthma attacks continue to be common among people with asthma; nearly 40% of adults and children with asthma reported at least one attack in the past 12 months.

The CDC EXHALE framework for improving asthma outcomes

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Asthma Control Program offers the EXHALE technical package, a comprehensive resource to guide decision-making, implementation, and scaling of evidence-based asthma strategies at the community, organizational, and state levels.

• EXHALE identifies six proven strategies; education, clinical care optimization, smoking cessation, home and environmental interventions, linkage to care, and population-focused approaches, which, when implemented together, can significantly improve asthma outcomes.

Applying EXHALE strategies to the program

The project applies proven strategies from the EXHALE framework to improve asthma control for all communities and support health outcomes for people most impacted by the disease condition.

• For this initiative, the American Lung Association will engage with healthcare professionals, asthma control programs, public health and professional organizations, state asthma programs, and non-governmental partners, to help increase awareness and adoption of evidence-based strategies that improve asthma outcomes, with special emphasis on communities with the highest burden.
• Aligning community, clinical, and public health efforts with EXHALE-recommended strategies strengthens systems of care, improves coordination across sectors, and accelerates progress toward expanding access to effective asthma care nationwide.

Learn more about Promoting Asthma Friendly Environments through Partnerships and Collaborations at Lung.org/afe or by emailing Asthma@lung.org.

The American Lung Association is a non-profit health organization founded in 1904 that works to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through research, education, and advocacy. Its key priorities include defeating lung cancer, creating a tobacco-free future, championing clean air for all, and improving quality of life for people living with lung disease.