1. What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project? The Philadelphia Allies Against Asthma (PAAA) organization is a city-focused group, but part of a national project (AAA). The organizations works in communities to develop pediatric asthma care and management plans. They work to offer support and education to families with asthmatic children. 2. What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health? The PAAA has put out articles to the Health Promotion Practice journal to explain their methods and evaluate their accomplishments. The journal articles also allow for communication between different community coalitions. A Latino based coalition has developed a tool to process and assess different asthma educational materials. This assessment is meant to look into an educational material's format, content, and accuracy. There are a number of evaluation instruments on the Allies against Asthma website, including surveys for assessment and interview guides. There has been a resource bank compiled to catalogue asthma-related information and material. Also, an organization call Asthma Health Outcomes Project (AHOP) has branches out of the AAA and looks into the more environmental components of asthmatic causes. 3. What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed? 2000: The PAAA was formed after two local coalitions received a grant from the AAA. 2001: A meeting between founding members of the PAAA identifies certain Philly neighborhoods that do not receive quality care. These areas are typically African-American and Latino populated, with a large portion of the population living under the poverty line. The organization begins to work with these particular areas. 2002-2004: Link Line, a medicaid provider in collaboration with the PAAA, served approximately 1,400 families. A majority of the patiens came from local children's hospitals. 4. Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches? The PAAA has “uniquely” collaborated with Medicaid managed care organizations to help link the poorer, and thus susceptible, neighborhoods to better quality health care options. In this case, “unique” may be a bit of an overstatement, but when coalitions partner directly with health providers, that creates a direct path for a neighborhood. These providers have the means necessary to help those endangered by asthma immediately, which is significant since asthma is both a chronic disease, and can be deadly. 5. What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created? The PAAA has local coalition based surveys done to compile data that shows the demographics of those requiring care, how often the Medicaid services re used, how the parent of an asthmatic child's work days are affected, etc. This information is displaed poorly, in a text only, bulleted-list format on the PAAA's website. The website is a blog-style scrolling format, so does not convey data well. 6. What research has the organization produce or draw on on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade? The AAA and PAAA's methods appear to be fairly consistent throughout the years. They employ local coalition members or volunteers to survey those using the services provided. There is a general survey posted on both the AAA's and the PAAA's websites to be used throughout the national organization. The data collection and research processes seem to be limited to this. 7. What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care? The PAAA, as mentioned before, is in close collaboration with Medicaid providers, and so relies upon that infrastructure to provide care throughout their neighborhoods. 8.What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma? The PAAA works specifically in Philadelphia neighborhoods that are impoverished and tend to contain the minority populations. For example, one neighborhood's population consisted of 75% African-Americans, 11% Latinos, and 4% Asian. Since over half of the residents are considered below the poverty line, the PAAA had to employ methods to provide good quality care and support the local families, while keeping costs in mind. Seeing that health insurance isn't necessarily commonplace in these neighborhoods, the PAAA's process had to be able to reach out to and link a broad spectrum of people. 9. What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health? The PAAA was formed out of two individual coalitions working in the Philadelphia area when the AAA offered a grant to that type of organization. Both these groups had been working at a community level in Philadelphia. 10. What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health? The AAA is funded through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This foundation works to provide things such as fresh food, quality health care, or even outdoors space to communities living in impoverished areas. 11. What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health? The AAA was formed with direction from the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan and with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (as seen above). These two influences likely shifted the PAAA to work in the types of communities that they do. 12. What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health? Since the PAAA is working in poorer communities, they have to work around issues such as lack of health insurance, or children without a primary care provider. Also, the neighborhoods the PAAA works in are demographically more likely to be exposed to certain toxins, pollution, runoff, etc. from factories or highways. 13. What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health? The PAAA works directly with Medicaid, to help provide to the low income families, so proper management of that resource is imperative. 14. How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization? The way in which the PAAA works to link communities to not only health care providers, but to family support and education about asthma is unquestionably mandatory in order to think about and work on environmental health care.
The Philadelphia Allies Against Asthma (PAAA) organization is a city-focused group, but part of a national project (AAA). The organizations works in communities to develop pediatric asthma care and management plans. They work to offer support and education to families with asthmatic children.
2. What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
The PAAA has put out articles to the Health Promotion Practice journal to explain their methods and evaluate their accomplishments. The journal articles also allow for communication between different community coalitions.
A Latino based coalition has developed a tool to process and assess different asthma educational materials. This assessment is meant to look into an educational material's format, content, and accuracy.
There are a number of evaluation instruments on the Allies against Asthma website, including surveys for assessment and interview guides.
There has been a resource bank compiled to catalogue asthma-related information and material. Also, an organization call Asthma Health Outcomes Project (AHOP) has branches out of the AAA and looks into the more environmental components of asthmatic causes.
3. What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
2000: The PAAA was formed after two local coalitions received a grant from the AAA.
2001: A meeting between founding members of the PAAA identifies certain Philly neighborhoods that do not receive quality care. These areas are typically African-American and Latino populated, with a large portion of the population living under the poverty line. The organization begins to work with these particular areas.
2002-2004: Link Line, a medicaid provider in collaboration with the PAAA, served approximately 1,400 families. A majority of the patiens came from local children's hospitals.
4. Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?
The PAAA has “uniquely” collaborated with Medicaid managed care organizations to help link the poorer, and thus susceptible, neighborhoods to better quality health care options. In this case, “unique” may be a bit of an overstatement, but when coalitions partner directly with health providers, that creates a direct path for a neighborhood. These providers have the means necessary to help those endangered by asthma immediately, which is significant since asthma is both a chronic disease, and can be deadly.
5. What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
The PAAA has local coalition based surveys done to compile data that shows the demographics of those requiring care, how often the Medicaid services re used, how the parent of an asthmatic child's work days are affected, etc. This information is displaed poorly, in a text only, bulleted-list format on the PAAA's website. The website is a blog-style scrolling format, so does not convey data well.
6. What research has the organization produce or draw on on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
The AAA and PAAA's methods appear to be fairly consistent throughout the years. They employ local coalition members or volunteers to survey those using the services provided. There is a general survey posted on both the AAA's and the PAAA's websites to be used throughout the national organization. The data collection and research processes seem to be limited to this.
7. What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
The PAAA, as mentioned before, is in close collaboration with Medicaid providers, and so relies upon that infrastructure to provide care throughout their neighborhoods.
8. What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma?
The PAAA works specifically in Philadelphia neighborhoods that are impoverished and tend to contain the minority populations. For example, one neighborhood's population consisted of 75% African-Americans, 11% Latinos, and 4% Asian. Since over half of the residents are considered below the poverty line, the PAAA had to employ methods to provide good quality care and support the local families, while keeping costs in mind. Seeing that health insurance isn't necessarily commonplace in these neighborhoods, the PAAA's process had to be able to reach out to and link a broad spectrum of people.
9. What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
The PAAA was formed out of two individual coalitions working in the Philadelphia area when the AAA offered a grant to that type of organization. Both these groups had been working at a community level in Philadelphia.
10. What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
The AAA is funded through a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This foundation works to provide things such as fresh food, quality health care, or even outdoors space to communities living in impoverished areas.
11. What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
The AAA was formed with direction from the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan and with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (as seen above). These two influences likely shifted the PAAA to work in the types of communities that they do.
12. What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
Since the PAAA is working in poorer communities, they have to work around issues such as lack of health insurance, or children without a primary care provider. Also, the neighborhoods the PAAA works in are demographically more likely to be exposed to certain toxins, pollution, runoff, etc. from factories or highways.
13. What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health?
The PAAA works directly with Medicaid, to help provide to the low income families, so proper management of that resource is imperative.
14. How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization?
The way in which the PAAA works to link communities to not only health care providers, but to family support and education about asthma is unquestionably mandatory in order to think about and work on environmental health care.