Pediatric Pulmonary Centers - The states comprising DHHS Region 8 (CO, UT, WY, MT, ND, SD) are quite diverse. The population is compromised of multiple racial and ethnic groups, including white, African American, Hispanic/Latino, and a number of different Native American Nations. Increasingly, refugee populations are settling in the region as well; Aurora (CO) Public School students represent over 160 first languages. The region is also diverse in geography, with large urban centers like Denver and Salt Lake City, vast rural areas, and frontier regions. This diversity provides incredible richness to those living there, but also presents formidable challenges to those trying to deliver state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary, family-centered, culturally appropriate care to children with chronic respiratory disorders and their families. Asthma is the most common chronic illness of childhood, and respiratory disorders are the most common reason for hospitalization. Sleep disorders impact both physical and cognitive health. Psychological aspects of chronic respiratory disease are perhaps the most neglected factor in disease management, impacting adherence and adjustment to illness with important influence on outcomes. Finally, skill at identifying and addressing social determinants of health can be crucial in ensuring positive outcome and breaking cycles of poverty, ill health and dependency. The Colorado Pediatric Pulmonary Center (PPC) in collaboration with regional partners, seeks to meet those challenges by both increasing the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) workforce through comprehensive training and by providing assistance to existing community MCH providers through educational outreach. At the central site at the University of Colorado/Children's Hospital Colorado and at partner sites at the University of Utah, the CF Center of the Northern Rockies (Billings, MT) and the University of South Dakota, this project will provide structured training to graduate and post-doctoral level trainees with high leadership potential in the state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary, family-centered, culturally appropriate care of children with chronic respiratory disorders and their families, as well as leadership and advocacy skills necessary to empower the next generations of MCH leaders. This will be accomplished with a combination of weekly didactic sessions, individual and group projects and web-based readings, educational activities and clinical practica. Some of the didactic sessions and group activities will be conducted jointly with the three MCHB-funded training programs already in place at the University of Colorado: Leadership Training in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities; Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; and Maternal and Child Health. This internal collaboration is key to maximizing economies of scale, enriching the experience of the trainees through exposure to other disciplines; and fostering ongoing networking between disciplines, especially between those in medical disciplines with those in the public health arena. Trainees at partner sites will participate in the didactic and groups sessions utilizing distance education technologies. In addition, the Colorado Pediatric Pulmonary Center will collaborate with the other five funded PPCs on high quality nationally disseminated training and educational initiatives. Faculty and trainees of the Center will also provide continuing education, technical assistance and subject matter expertise to other MCH programs and entities in Colorado and Region 8. The requested funding for the Colorado Pediatric Pulmonary Center is critical to the success of its mission. Salary/stipend support for project faculty and trainees, funding for logistical support of operations, and travel support to enable national collaboration are key to program success.
