News

Constella Helping to Alleviate Childhood Asthma in Post-Katrina New Orleans

April 3—Through a project called Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL), Constella is working with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and several other partner organizations to address childhood asthma in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Asthma, just as most chronic diseases, is highly influenced by quality and continuity of care. Children with asthma are at an extreme health risk when they are subjected to sudden and prolonged exposures to environmental hazards known to trigger asthma symptoms. They are especially vulnerable when they do not have immediate access to healthcare.

The HEAL project was designed with two primary objectives in mind — to test an approach to minimizing dangerous environmental exposures so that those most vulnerable can be protected, and to better understand the impact of mold exposures on asthma. HEAL combines existing evidence-based programs into a novel asthma case-management intervention that emphasizes environmental risk control.

How it Works

HEAL is recruiting and enrolling 450 children in New Orleans with moderate to severe asthma to participate in the program through various avenues including schools, clinic-based screening, and Medicaid referrals. Children enrolled in HEAL receive comprehensive clinical examinations focused on respiratory health as well as a home environment assessment by a team of environmental technicians. They are then assigned an asthma counselor who helps the child’s family address his/her asthma in several ways including:

• facilitating appointments with a physician, monitoring the child’s compliance with medications, and providing guidance to acquire social services,
• empowering the caregiver to communicate with the child’s school nurse, primary care provider and anyone involved in caring for the child to help develop and implement the child’s asthma care plan,
• providing environmentally-focused education and follow-up and materials for allergen reduction including dehumidifiers, HEPA air filters and dust mite impermeable bed covers.

“By identifying children in New Orleans with asthma, educating their caregivers about ways to minimize exposures to environmental triggers, and providing follow-up care and support, HEAL is working to address both the health care system and environmental impacts of Katrina on this vulnerable population,” said Rich Cohn, Vice President of Constella's Center for Health Research, and Director of the contract supporting this initiative.

To learn more about the HEAL project, visit the HEAL website, which was developed by Jason Suter, Web Designer, and Bobbie Havel, Scientific/Technical Manage, both members of Constella's Center for Health Information Technology.

Constella is participating in HEAL through a 10-year clinical research project with NIEHS. In addition to NIEHS, the project is funded by the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, and the Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc. Constella’s partner institutions include Tulane University, the New Orleans Department of Health, Rho, Inc., and Louisiana State University.