THE ASTHMA FILES shared questions: Asthmatic Spaces
Characterizing Asthmatic Spaces
What are signature characteristics of this area as an asthmatic space?
What are notable air pollution governance characteristics of this area?
Is there a record of environmental injustice? Is the area thought of as an asthma hotspot? Who are the stakeholders?
What spatial units (cities, counties, provinces, regulatory regions, etc.) are important in this area?
What examples illustrate the dynamics of environmental health governance in this space?
What other examples of governance in this space point to a signature governance style?
Accounting for Asthma
How prevalent is asthma, and who is tracking asthma prevalence?
What are the costs of asthma to families affected by asthma, to government, to businesses (in lost work days, for example)? Who is producing this information?
How has asthma been covered by local media? Where have causes of and responsibility for asthma incidence been placed? What interventions have been highlighted?
What kinds of civic organizations (environmental groups, caregivers groups) are involved in asthma surveillance and care?
What kind of research has been done on environmental health issues in this area, and what are the findings?
How have global concerns about environmental equity and health disparities shaped local research, and the use of research in governance?
How has science relevant to environmental public health moved into law and policy?
What has shaped scientific practices and culture in this space? Have scientific practices and culture shifted in recent decades?
What hierarchies have emerged between different research communities and the modes of evidence they produce, what accounts for these hierarchies, and how does it impact the use of science in governance?
Causes of Asthma
What cultural, social, political, economic, ecological and built features of the area may contribute to asthma patterns?
Are there notable occupational drivers of asthma in this area?
What is known about air quality and dynamics?
What information is available to assess cumulative community risk?
Experiencing Asthma
How do different people in this area experience asthma?
How have people integrated experiential knowledge with other kinds of knowledge?
Caring for Asthma
What forms of medical care are available (and not) to people suffering from asthma?
What forms of asthma education (in schools, for example) exist, and what is their orientation?
Who regulates environmental triggers of asthma, and what is their record and reputation?
What programs are in place to measure and mitigate asthma triggers in this area?
Histories of Asthma
How have asthma rates in this area changed since 1985? Since 1945?
Are there new treatments for asthma? How, over the last decades, has medical care for asthma changed? Have traditional medical practices been overtaken by modernized practices?
Have government agencies changed the way they conceive and respond to asthma?
Are there new civic organizations working on asthma?
Has concern about climate change shaped the way asthma is understood and addressed?
Changing Asthmatic Spaces
What kinds of policies and enforcement could change asthma incidence?
What would improve asthma care and education, and how could this build on existing infrastructure?
How could The Asthma Files project help mobilize positive change in this area?
shared questions: Asthmatic Spaces
Characterizing Asthmatic Spaces
Accounting for Asthma
Causes of Asthma
Experiencing Asthma
Caring for Asthma
Histories of Asthma
Changing Asthmatic Spaces