At a glance
CDC is funding the health departments in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Houston, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin to improve the reach, quality, effectiveness, and sustainability of asthma control services and to reduce asthma morbidity, mortality and disparities by implementing evidence-based strategies.
Overview
The New Hampshire Asthma Control Program (NHACP) has been part of CDC's National Asthma Control Program since 2001. They work alongside partners to reduce asthma disparities by improving the quality of asthma care, improving asthma management in schools, and fostering policies to help reduce exposure to asthma triggers in outdoor, indoor, and workplace environments.
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
- Tanya Dumont
- 603-271-0855
- Tanya.Dumont@dhhs.nh.gov
- New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Community and Public Health
29 Hazen Drive
Concord, NH 03301
Highlights
In 2020, NHACP forged a new strategic partnership with the Granite YMCA’s Director of Healthy Living Initiatives, who is also a member of the NH Asthma Collaborative. Because of this partnership, NHACP provided the connection and funding for the Granite YMCA to train three staff members to facilitate the American Lung Association’s Asthma Self-Management Education Open Airways Program in 2022. The Granite YMCA included programming for children with asthma in their strategic plan as a health equity priority. This new partnership expands the reach of NHACP to the 35,000 individuals served by the Granite YMCA each year, creating numerous opportunities for training personnel, caregivers, and students in asthma management.
The NH Department of Education School Safety and Facility Management Bureau (NH DOE) annually conducts an Indoor Air Quality Survey for all schools in NH. Results of the survey help identify actions schools can take to address their indoor air quality issues. In 2020, the NHACP, through its relationship with the NH DOE, successfully advocated for the inclusion of the question “How many visits to the school nurse over the last year were asthma related?” in the annual survey. The NHACP added two additional questions in 2023 to the annual survey: “Does your school have a fragrance-free policy? Y/N” and “Does your school predominantly use third party certified cleaning products? Y/N.” Recording this information allows the NH DOE to identify possible health impacts and the outcomes of interventions in the school designed to improve air quality. This information also allows NHACP to target interventions to specific schools with the highest number of visits to the school nurse for asthma.
What the data shows
2020
127,113 Adults with asthma
17,331 Children with asthma
In 2020, a total of 127,113 New Hampshire adults (11.5% of the adult population) had asthma, and 17,331 New Hampshire children ages 0–17 years (7.2%) had it.
Resources
EXHALE: Strategies to Help People with Asthma Breathe Easier
Controlling Childhood Asthma and Reducing Emergencies