Regional Asthma Management & Prevention (RAMP)

One of RAMP's key partners, the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), does amazing work on multiple issues, so we're pleased to share this information about its Summer Fellowship program. Applications are now open! *** The environments where we live, learn, work, and play have a profound impact on our health. This paid summer fellowship program will give up to three individuals with an interest in environmental health an opportunity to intern with the National Center for Healthy Housing?and the Children’s Environmental Health Network, two national organizations leading the fight for healthier environments. ? The persons selected as this year’s fellows will be invited to choose from a range of projects and/or submit their own ideas for projects related to a broad array of children’s environmental health, healthy housing, and/or climate and health topics and may take a variety of different approaches to addressing public health challenges (e.g., research, policy, training, awareness building, communications, capacity building). ? Fellows are asked to commit to 320 hours of work (spread over 8-15 weeks) and will be compensated $8,260 ($18 per hour plus a $2,500 fellowship stipend to be paid in two $1,250 installments). ? Apply today: https://bit.ly/CEHfellow25. Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on March 14, 2025. For questions, email Sarah Goodwin at [email protected].?

We are pleased to share an updated version of RAMP’s Asthma Action Plan. The most recent update includes: Adjustments to the medication instructions to accommodate Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) An updated, more comprehensive list of asthma triggers that includes images Information about asthma home visiting services for patients with poorly controlled asthma RAMP has provided free Asthma Action Plans in multiple languages for over two decades. We work with our clinical partners to update the Asthma Action Plans periodically to ensure that they are consistent with clinical guidelines and practice. We are currently piloting the updated version in English only. Please take a look, use it with your patients, and let us know if you have feedback by emailing RAMP’s Director, Anne Kelsey Lamb. Later, we’ll translate the updated version into additional languages.

Stay informed with RAMP’s Digest! Our semi-monthly e-newsletter delivers the latest tools, resources, opportunities, and research on asthma—right to your inbox. Explore our most recent Digest below! Sign up today: https://lnkd.in/gr5ThGWd

Our thoughts continue to be with everyone suffering through the Los Angeles fires. The LA Times recently featured RAMP's Director, Anne Kelsey Lamb, to discuss air pollution and wildfire smoke, which can be extremely harmful to vulnerable groups including pregnant people, children, older adults, people with asthma and others. She also shared tips for how to protect yourself, including wearing an N95 mask when outdoors, which can help to filter out the damaging fine particles. “The surgical masks allow too much air to get in, because it’s not the tight fit,” said Anne. “It doesn’t filter out as fine of particles as the N95 does." Read more at the link below.

As wildfires ravage Los Angeles and smoke spreads throughout the region, our thoughts are with all the affected communities. We want to be sure the asthma field has information to help reduce risks from wildfire smoke exposure. Here are the tools RAMP developed to help?select safe, effective, affordable air cleaners (also known as air purifiers) for people with asthma. There are videos on how to use and maintain air cleaners, educational materials in six languages, and other information about how asthma programs, organizations, and agencies can help reduce the harmful impacts of wildfire smoke.

As 2024 comes to a close, we are excited to share RAMP’s Strategic Plan for the next three years. We will continue targeting the inequities that lead to asthma disparities related to our goals of healthy and stable housing, healthy air, and healthcare equity for all. We will reach our goals by utilizing our core strategies of building capacity through direct and responsive technical assistance, creating linkages for peer learning, collaboration, and network-building, and finally mobilizing networks to advance policy and systems change. Read our full Strategic Plan below.

Asthma is greatly influenced by where someone lives. People who have affordable and accessible health care, clean air, and economic stability have a greater chance of managing and controlling their asthma. AAFA’s Asthma Capitals? Report ranks the largest 100 cities in the continental US by how challenging they are to live in when you have asthma. AAFA publishes this report to show the nationwide burden of asthma. It is a call to action to help the 28 million people in the US with asthma. In 2024, the top 10 asthma capitals are: 1. Allentown, PA 2. Rochester, NY 3. Detroit, MI 4. Springfield, MA 5. Philadelphia, PA 6. Cleveland, OH 7. Lakeland, FL 8. Baltimore, MD 9. Charleston, SC 10. Providence, RI The Asthma Capitals report ranking is based on three outcomes: asthma prevalence, asthma-related emergency room visits, and asthma-related deaths. The report also analyzes risk factors that can influence asthma outcomes: poverty, air quality, access to specialist medical care, pollen allergy, medicine use, tobacco policies, and lack of health insurance. Click below to see the full ranking list.

Tracking California has released a new data tool that specifically allows you to search for environmental and health topics and interact with data in the form of maps, charts, time trends, and tables in California. When searching by the topic area of asthma, there is data on: - Asthma Emergency Department Visits - Asthma Hospitalizations - Current Asthma Prevalence - Lifetime Asthma Prevalence - Asthma Deaths - Insurers for Asthma Emergency Department Visits - Insurers for Asthma Hospitalizations The data can be separated by a multitude of factors including gender/sex, age, race/ethnicity, geography, and more. Other topics areas encompassed in Tracking California include air quality, birth defects, cancer, carbon monoxide poisoning, childhood lead poisoning, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), health attacks, heat-related illness, and maternal and infant health. Tracking California is a program of the Public Health Institute, in partnership with the California Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.

Improving indoor air quality in schools is vital, especially when so many hazards--airborne illnesses, wildfire smoke, pollution--can worsen asthma and negatively impact student health. Better ventilation and cleaner air can lead to fewer sick days, but research has also linked better air quality in schools to higher test scores and better grades. “We have made incredible gains related to food safety, sanitation and water quality. Where is air quality in this? We have ignored it, ” siad Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting about 1 in every 10 students. As children are returning to school, parents need to be aware of the signs of asthma and how to work effectively with healthcare providers to manage their child’s asthma. The NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute created an Asthma in Kids Infographic that shares this important information in addition to other asthma-related resources and fact sheets throughout their website.