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 Mexico Asthma Control Program (NMACP) has been part of CDC's National Asthma Control Program since 2000. 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 Mexico Department of Health
- Srikanth Paladugu
- 505-476-3549
- Srikanth.Paladugu@state.nm.us
- New Mexico Department of Health
1190 St. Francis Dr.
Santa Fe, NM 87505-2611
Highlights
NMACP has partnered with Nor-Lea General Hospital since 2013 to provide an Asthma Self-Management Education (AS-ME) referral program in counties with persistently high rates of asthma. AS-ME participants reported a substantial increase in asthma knowledge, have reduced their emergency department (ED) visits by 83% during 2013–2017, and significantly improved their Asthma Control Test scores. Across New Mexico, rates for ED visits among children with asthma have dropped 36% since 2015. The largest reduction in ED use (46%) has been in the Southeast, where the burden of asthma is highest. NMACP is working with other healthcare facilities to expand this program.
Starting in 2020, NMACP used syndromic surveillance data to identify children with recent asthma-related ED visits. The program contacted hundreds of children and their guardians to link them to the NM Department of Health’s Children’s Medical Services (CMS), a program that provides coordinated care resources to NM children. CMS regional teams of social workers and care coordinators help families enroll in a coordinated care system and/or receive services through regional asthma clinics, with the intent of controlling their asthma symptoms and reducing asthma-related ED visits. NMACP extended this program in 2022 and continuously evaluates its efficacy.
NMACP provided Asthma Specialty Track Trainings to 40 community health workers and other home visitors from 2018 through 2021. These trainings, which include asthma management, addressing environmental triggers, and supporting children with asthma at home and in schools, were originally offered in person only. Changing the trainings to a virtual delivery model resulted in higher attendance numbers and more geographic diversity. Future trainings will be delivered virtually. Participants demonstrated increased knowledge and confidence in providing asthma care to their clients living in communities across all NM public health regions.
What the data shows
2020
162,657 Adults with asthma
32,327 Children with asthma
In 2020, a total of 162,657 New Mexico adults (more than 10% of the adult population) had asthma, and 32,327 New Mexico children (7.2%) ages 0–17 years had it.
2019
6,126 ER visits
In 2019, New Mexico saw 6,126 asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits.
Resources
EXHALE: Strategies to Help People with Asthma Breathe Easier
Controlling Childhood Asthma and Reducing Emergencies