San Mateo County Asthma Coalition

The mission of the San Mateo County Asthma Coalition (SMCAC) is “to prevent and control asthma in San Mateo County by promoting change and collaboration at the individual, institutional, community and policy level through education, awareness, empowerment, and advocacy.”  The coalition has been working towards this mission since 2004 through its childcare, schools, clinical, and community workgroups. 

In October 2008, SMCAC hosted a day-long education and network meeting for San Mateo County health care providers to address the goal of improving the abilities of health care providers to identify and address the needs of adults and children with asthma.  During the lunch break-out sessions, health care providers discussed barriers to helping patients with asthma.  One of the largest barriers they perceived was substandard housing conditions. 

Based on this feedback and recent evidence that millions of asthma cases may be due to mold and moisture in the home (Chen, A. 2007), the SMCAC put together educational flyers for property owners about their responsibilities towards mold and moisture control.  After receiving feedback from property owner focus groups, the coalition also created English and Spanish educational sheets for renters and general audiences.  San Mateo County Environmental Health partnered with the SMCAC to print and distribute these flyers. 

In the fall of 2009, SMCAC continued to build its partnership with Environmental Health and co-sponsored two events.  In August, over 30 home visitors and outreach workers participated in a housing and habitability training which addressed questions about resources for clients and the legal processes around habitability issues. In October, approximately 30 code enforcement, environmental health, public health and other stakeholders participated in a healthy housing forum.  The forum included educational presentations about pest and mold control and a facilitated dialogue about the roles and responsibilities of different agencies to support healthy housing for residents of San Mateo County.  The training and forum have led to increased awareness of the interconnectivity of our work and new partnerships.

 Currently, the SMCAC is developing strategies to support interdisciplinary collaboration promoting healthy homes.  The clinical committee of the coalition is also working on developing a workshop in May that will support patient advocacy efforts among medical providers.  To learn more about the SMCAC, please visit smhealth.org/asthma.

Chen, Allan (2007).  Berkeley  Lab “EPA Studies Confirm Large Public Health And Economic Impact of Dampness and Mold” Retrieved 1/04/10 from  http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_57697.shtml

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