Asthma Cooperative Agreement Partner Profile - Georgia

Overview

The Georgia Asthma Control Program (GACP) has been part of CDC’s National Asthma Control Program since 2001. They work alongside partners to improve the quality of asthma care, improve asthma management in schools, and foster policies to help reduce exposure to asthma triggers in outdoor, indoor, and workplace environments.

Highlights

GACP began working collaboratively with Department of Health’s (DPH) Children’s Medical Services (CMS) team to analyze data from quarterly asthma questionnaires, including Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores to support the case to improve the quality of asthma care. Measures also include enrollment in CMS with multiple conditions; missed school days; missed workdays; emergency department visits; hospitalizations; asthma action plans provided; and asthma self-management education (AS-ME) received. Overall, GACP received 308 forms dating from October 2021 to June 2022. The average ACT score among all Public Health Districts (PHDs) was 21.3. This partnership allowed GACP to identify PHDs who report low ACT scores and identify districts that would benefit from implementing a quality improvement project at the district level. After seeing the data, Dekalb County Health District agreed to implement the CATAPULT framework for quality improvement, which will complement the AS-ME implementation in schools and community settings already happening in the district.

GACP worked closely with Fulton County School District to improve asthma management in schools. The school district was designated Asthma Friendly in 2020 and sought more ways to implement asthma-related initiatives. During the 2021-2022 school year, Fulton County Schools was awarded funds from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation to implement school-based asthma education and care coordination for underserved asthma students. The district hired an Asthma Care Coordinator to implement AS-ME sessions, lead asthma trainings for staff, and ensured the completion of asthma action plans. To further extend asthma work, Fulton County Schools contracted with GACP in September 2022 to implement AS-ME sessions and increase capacity of AS-ME trained facilitators in the district. To date, Fulton County Schools has implemented 5 courses of Kickin’ Asthma or Open Airways for Schools to 43 participants. The number of students with access to their rescue inhaler and asthma action plans at school increased, along with improved knowledge of asthma and self-management for both staff and students.

In 2019, GACP provided information and technical assistance to schools in high burden school districts in preparation to receive the designation of Asthma Friendly Schools. GACP also shared information about complementary funding opportunities from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean School Bus Program. This information was a part of the monthly technical assistance provided to funded health districts, with the encouragement to share the information with their local school districts. Clayton County schools was one of 389 school districts nationwide to receive $10 million from EPA funding in November 2022 to purchase 25 electric school buses and 25 charging units. This allows Clayton County to impact thousands of students by reducing exposure to harmful diesel emissions.

What the data show

2020

738,906 Adults with asthma

244,995 Children with asthma

In 2020, a total of 738,906 Georgia adults (9.0% of the adult population) had asthma and 244,995 Georgia children ages 0–17 years (9.8%) had it.

2019

52,808 ER visits

5,174 Hospitalizations

In 2019, there were 52,808 emergency department (ED) visits and 5,174 hospitalizations due to asthma in Georgia.

Resources

EXHALE: Strategies to Help People with Asthma Breathe Easier/national-asthma-control-program/php/exhale/index.html

Controlling Childhood Asthma and Reducing Emergencies/national-asthma-control-program/php/about/ccare.html