Connecticut Children's Asthma Center has gotten a one-year $380,000 planning grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Nationwide, eight percent of children under 18 have asthma. In Hartford, that rate is more like 29 percent. There's now an effort in the city to diagnose and treat asthma better.
One problem when it comes to treating children with asthma is diagnosing them. Another is getting all of the child's caregivers on the same page.
Then there's the actual treatment. To help improve outcomes, Connecticut Children's Asthma Center has gotten a one-year $380,000 planning grant from the National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Michelle Cloutier is a professor at the UConn School of Medicine who runs the asthma center that got the grant. She said she wants to do what's called a needs assessment with this end in mind.
"To use that information to develop a multi-level, multi-faceted, evidence-based intervention to reduce asthma morbidity in children -- low-income, minority children -- who are disproportionately affected by asthma," Cloutier said.
Cloutier said the goal of the planning grant will also be to reduce hospitalizations and emergency room visits. When rolled out, the effort will also help nurses at city schools and parents in their homes monitor and treat children with asthma.
Cloutier also said the idea already has a good track record.
"In the first year of doing this program, we reduced school absences for children with asthma by 11.2 percent," Cloutier said. "Huge effect."
Should the clinical trial succeed, the asthma center will apply for more grant funding to launch it in three other Connecticut communities.
