Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1475629
36 August 2022 Inhalation a pilot program in Los Angeles that will address the needs of adults with asthma in under- served communities of South- east Los Angeles County. • In partnership with the AAFA St. Louis Chapter and Oasis St. Louis, AAFA will launch a new home visit program for older adults with asthma. e program will include routine check-ins, coordinate care with an asthma specialist, and pro- vide AAFA-certified asthma & allergy friendly ® products for the home. "The right thing to do" "AAFA is eager to invest in com- munities and local partners to improve asthma care and out- comes," said Kenneth Mendez, AAFA's CEO and President. "While the costs of asthma and health disparities total billions of dollars every year for Americans, we know that we can significantly improve asthma outcomes and reduce costs through investments in the community. In addition to saving money, it's simply the right thing to do on behalf of those who have experienced stark inequities in health." About AAFA Founded in 1953, AAFA is the world's oldest and largest non- profit patient organization for people with asthma, allergies and related conditions. AAFA offers support for individuals and fam- ilies through its online patient support communities, network of local chapters and affiliated support groups, providing practi- cal, evidence-based information, community programs and ser- vices. In addition, AAFA supports and works with local community organizations and groups includ- ing hospital systems, state asthma control programs and housing advocates across the US. ese programs serve disadvantaged populations who are at highest risk of having asthma, needing four pilot programs will be on adults and teens who have asthma. While AAFA recognizes there are many proven and effective com- munity-based asthma programs for children, they have found very few programs that serve adults. rough the HEAL Innovation awards, they hope to utilize best practices from pediatric programs to build successful programs for adults and teens. A vision of sustainability During the first year of HEAL Innovation, AAFA will work with local partners to collect and ana- lyze data in the four selected cit- ies to measure the success of the programs. e long-term vision is that AAFA's investment in these pilot programs will allow our local partners to seek sustainable fund- ing from payors and other health- care stakeholders in the future. The first four cities e first year of HEAL Innova- tion, which runs through mid- 2023, is supported exclusively by Amgen through a $1 million sponsorship. It will fund programs in Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles and St. Louis. • In Detroit, AAFA will part- ner with its Michigan Chap- ter to improve asthma control through general health and wellness, access to specialty care, assessment of home envi- ronments and asthma self- management education. e pilot program is designed to serve 50 or more families in the greater Detroit area. • Working with the American Lung Association in Greater Chicago, AAFA will launch a pilot program for adults and adolescents with asthma. It will include asthma education and home visits. Both AAFA and the Lung Association are mem- bers of the Chicago Asthma Consortium. • AAFA will work in partnership with Breathe Southern Califor- nia (Breathe SoCal) to launch In the same year, AAFA funded a pilot program from AIRnyc, which leads partnerships and pilot pro- grams with a variety of organiza- tions to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities throughout New York City. e AAFA-funded program is designed to connect 50 households that manage asthma with health education, healthcare and social programs. Launching HEAL and HEAL Innovation In May 2022, AAFA launched the Health Equity Advancement and Leadership (HEAL) program to address findings from its report. e HEAL program is designed to "reinforce AAFA's commitment to drastically reducing the burden of asthma in communities that bear the heaviest burden of asthma." As part of the HEAL program, AAFA announced HEAL Inno- vation, whose overall goal is to reduce mortality and morbidity among high-risk populations by partnering with and strengthen- ing local community programs. Because AAFA believes that "all asthma is local" [i.e., influenced by and experienced under local conditions], they recognize and support the importance of com- bining national leadership with community-driven action. "We know how to address dis- parities and improve asthma outcomes at the local level," explained Sanaz Eftekhari, Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Research for AAFA. "Com- munity-based asthma interven- tions have been proven effective and HEAL will generate momen- tum to sustain critical programs across the nation." A focus on adults and teens Each year, HEAL Innovation will award funding and resources to four local, pilot, community- based asthma programs tailored to at-risk populations most impacted by asthma. e focus of these