Advancing Health Equity in Asthma Control through EXHALE Strategies in Montana - Montana (MT) Department of Public Health & Human Services (DPHHS) is applying for the CDC-RFA-EH-24-0016 “Advancing Health Equity in Asthma Control through EXHALE Strategies”. The grant activities will be prioritized to the highest burden areas or specific sub-populations at high-risk that may otherwise be missed by these activities, with an emphasis on rural residents, people with disabilities, veterans, Medicaid members, American Indians, and children at risk for emergency department visits. Work will be completed across the state of Montana. The Montana Asthma Control Program (MACP) will address the burden of asthma in MT by implementing activities through a comprehensive and coordinated approach to focus the work, reduce duplication, and increase the efficiency of the staff and partners, while leveraging limited resources. Work will address health disparities and the most vulnerable populations. This approach includes addressing standards and policies to improve access to asthma control services that affect groups of people in various settings (home, communities, healthcare, schools,); increasing Montanans’ awareness of asthma triggers, disease self-management, and resources (community programs, home-based trigger reduction services, payer sources); working with healthcare providers to implement quality improvement strategies that improve delivery and use of clinical services; educating healthcare providers on guidelines based asthma care and management, the impacts of social determinants of health on Montanans with asthma, and strategies to improve health equity; and linking clinical and community resources. These activities are consistent with the NOFO strategies. The MACP is committed to improving the quality of life for all Montanans with asthma. The MACP will complete work for Strategies 1 and 2, emphasizing work in all six EXHALE strategies. Strategies address these outcomes related to asthma: 1) increase implementation of selected EXHALE strategies in identified settings, 2) increase linkages to community resources to address drivers of health inequity 3) increase use of surveillance and evaluation data to drive program improvement, 4) enhance partnerships including demonstrated expansion of at least one new strategic partnership representing a focus population. The work plan activities address these intermediate outcomes: 1) increase access to EXHALE interventions for people with uncontrolled asthma, and 2) reduce impact on the identified driver of health inequity for asthma control among populations with highest risk. Finally, activities will lead to long-term outcomes related to increasing coordination of care across settings, reducing exposure to environmental asthma triggers, improving sustainability of health equity partnerships, increasing policies and plans enacted and evaluated to address drivers of asthma control, and reducing asthma related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths among people with asthma. In cooperation with CDC, MT DPHHS will collect data, report on performance measures, and communicate regularly results from these evidence-based activities. This funding will allow MT DPHHS to further reduce the overall burden of asthma, including emergency department visits for children with asthma, by working with diverse partners and forming a collaborative strategic plan focused on health equity.
