This year the Solano Asthma Coalition (SAC) is very excited to be reaching out to our community through two new programs.

We realize that Solano County has one of the highest rates of children with asthma in the state of California. Of particular concern is that many children and families may be using their medications incorrectly, not understanding how to properly administer those medications, and may over-utilize the emergency room for asthma related concerns instead of regular follow-up with a primary care provider. The goal of our education program is to address these concerns. We will work hand-in-hand with local emergency rooms and all physicians that care for children to improve the asthma management in our community. The emergency rooms will identify children with a diagnosis of asthma (or treated for asthma symptoms) and they will be enrolled into our education program. We will provide, free of charge, a family oriented asthma education program and make sure that the patients are linked back to a provider in the community. We will then contact these providers who will ensure that the patients are seen in their clinics in the following week. Our group will also provide regular phone follow-up with these families at 3, 6, and 12 month intervals to determine if their symptoms are under control, or if they need to be seen by their primary care provider (and then contact the providers to make them aware that particular patients need to be seen since their symptoms do not seem to be well controlled). We will offer these same services to all local physicians so that they can refer any of their patients to the asthma education program. Through this type of program we hope to decrease over-utilization of the emergency room for asthma care, improve families’ knowledge of asthma and proper medication administration, and link patients back to community physicians in an effort to improve the overall asthma care in Solano County.

Thanks to a Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit grant, SAC is now offering asthma trainings and free asthma trigger surveys to the over 1,200 Child Care Providers in Solano County.

Every May during “Asthma Awareness Month,” the Solano Asthma Coalition hosts their Asthma Challenge Awards. This year we will recognize Dr. Chad Tarter as our Physician Champion for his dedication and enthusiasm to our Coalition, and for his help in implementing our Asthma Education Program. We will also recognize Solano Family and Children’s Services for their expertise and help with our Child Care Provider Program.

Click here to see previous coalition spotlights