Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
Advancing Health Equity in Pennsylvania's Asthma Control through EXHALE Strategies - Pennsylvania Department of Health Advancing Health Equity in Pennsylvania’s Asthma Control through EXHALE Strategies CDC-RFA-EH-24-0016 Project Abstract Pennsylvania (PA) is home to over 13 million people where 10 percent of adults and children reported having asthma in 2022 compared to 8 percent of adults and 6.5 percent of children nationally. Of the 100 cities in the United States designated as the most challenging places to live with asthma, five are in PA: Allentown, Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Scranton. In adults, asthma is more common in women, younger adults, those with less than a high school education, those with an income less than $15,000, those who identify as Black or Hispanic, current smokers, and those with obesity. In children, asthma is generally more common in boys, those who identify as Black or Hispanic, and those ages 5-9 and 10-14 years. The purpose of PA’s Asthma Control Program is to: • Reduce asthma-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, mortality, and disparities. • Expand implementation of the EXHALE strategies in schools, homes, health care locations, and community locations in overburdened communities in the PA asthma capitals. Overburdened communities are defined by the Environmental Protection Agency as minority, low-income, tribal, or indigenous populations or geographic locations in the United States that potentially experience disproportionate environmental harms and risks. The term describes situations where multiple factors, including both environmental and socio- economic stressors, may act cumulatively to affect health and the environment and contribute to persistent environmental health disparities. • Improve organizational infrastructure to advance health equity and sustainability by: o Implementing the Asthma Strategic Plan in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Asthma Partnership (PAP) to address health equity, sustainability, and the social and environmental determinants of asthma. o Advancing health equity partnerships with community organizations, multi-sector organizations, and community members to achieve meaningful community engagement in the ACP program. o Strengthening the monitoring and reporting of asthma data to drive strategic action and program improvement. o Using evaluation and performance measurement for continuous program quality improvement, to replicate successful interventions and infrastructure improvements, to inform future opportunities, and to support health equity and sustainability efforts. Over the long-term these actions will result in increased access to EXHALE interventions, increased linkages to community resources to address drivers of inequity, increased coordination of care across settings, a reduced impact of drivers of health inequity on overburdened communities, increased coordination of care across settings, reduced exposure to environmental asthma triggers, improved sustainability of results-based health equity partnerships, and increased policies and plans enacted and evaluated to address drivers of asthma control.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).