About
The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma is organized as a community coalition under the institutional umbrella of Miller Children’s Hospital a 501(c)3 licensed not-for-profit children’s hospital under the corporate ownership of Long Beach Memorial Medical Center.
Mission
To change the profile of childhood asthma in the most affected areas of The City of Long Beach and surrounding communities, through improved: healthcare delivery and quality, outreach, education support systems, healthy living environments and, changes in policy at all levels
Vision
Long Beach and surrounding communities will be a place where residents, families, children and youth, community organizations, decision makers, health care providers, schools, businesses, and community leaders are partner to improve the quality of life for children with or at risk of developing asthma.
HISTORY OF THE COALITION
The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma (LBACA) is a partnership to improve the lives of children with asthma in the greater Long Beach. Founded in 1999, LBACA was one of the 7 under the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation’s Allies Against Asthma program, and one of 12 sites in California awarded grants under The California Endowment’s Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA) program.
LBACA’s long-term goal is to improve clinical outcomes for children with asthma including reduction in preventable hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and school absenteeism due to asthma, and enhanced quality of life measures. LBACA employs a multi-faceted, community based approach addressing the systems, policies and social barriers to effective asthma care using evidence-based models. It examines and addresses factors at every level of influence including self-management, family and the home, provider capacity and expertise, school and after-school support, community awareness and action, environmental measures and conducive policies.
PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES
LBACA’s activities were developed through our initial year of planning funding in 2000. The strategic plan places the families in the middle of community-wide efforts to improve asthma management; LBACA has been successful in actively engaging all stakeholders in its current projects, which include:
- A Community Health Worker asthma home visiting program.
- Physician (through PACE, Physician Asthma Care Education) training, the only validated training which has demonstrated changes in asthma outcomes for trained physicians treating children with asthma.
- Community Education and Awareness by providing asthma education for schools, after school programs, churches, parent groups, community clinics and many other community-wide events and activities.
- Policy work to educate and mobilize the community to respond to air quality issues, both indoors and outdoors.
- Sustainment of a community coalition with active participation over a 10 year period from hundreds of community members.
- Empowering local community members to become leaders in their community and taking the lead in campaigns to reduce the adverse impacts of air pollution on children.