The Texas Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Society (TAAIS)
- The Texas Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology Society (TAAIS) is of interest for this project due to their endeavors to educate physicians, nurses, and the general public alike on ways to raise awareness and alleviate conditions brought on by asthma.
- Some of their work includes hosting “Lunch and Learn” events at corporations to educate the staff about asthma, sponsor lectures by school nurses at schools on analphylaxis, and sponsoring the continued education for medical professionals about asthma and allergies and respective treatments.
- The idea of educating both medical professionals and the general public to combat health disorders has been around for over a century, starting with the foundation of the American Public Health Association in 1872. International health groups like WHO also serve as an influence, which was founded in 1948.
- This method of fighting medical conditions through public health awareness has been a common modus operandi for many NGOs and state sponsored groups. It is not suggesting anything radical since most of these ideologies are found in other health-related NGOs. The group does aim to educate both medical professionals and the general public, so that may suggest a problem with focusing on a more narrow sample space of people to target.
- The main argument to establish credibility for their approach is the makeup of their organization. In news articles on their website, it always mentions the certified physicians that represent the group. However, they do not offer any data visualizations on their website extolling the effectiveness of their approach.
- TAAIS offers no research that serves as the basis for their activities. Rather, they appear to take influence from larger, physician-operated groups, like the Texas Medical Association.
- They rely on a network of of doctors and nurses to spread knowledge of asthma and proper prevention techniques. These medical professionals will reach out to corporations, schools, and their patients about asthma. Also, many members themselves perform research on asthma, providing a direct link of breakthrough information to the organization.
- TAAIS is under a social ecology where the group is not completely free from attacks by outsiders. The group recently had to fight off a lawsuit to protect their rights to continue educating professionals and the public alike on asthma. Texas, and specifically target city Houston, has a higher poverty rate than the U.S. Average, and studies show that lower-income families are more prone to death by asthma-related causes.
- Seeing the increased perception of diseases that have massive awareness campaigns has influenced the group to promote treatment by increasing awareness through trusted medical professionals.
- TAAIS receives funding from many pharmaceutical companies, such as Genentech and GlaxoSmithKline. Given that these companies all produce drugs that are designed to treat asthma attacks and alleviate symptoms, they would be able to gain from a public that is more aware and educated about diagnosing asthma.
- The fact that this group was conceived by doctors shaped the ideology of having the group reach out to more physicians and nurses to better educate the populace.
- This groups seems to find raising awareness in the general public about asthma challenging, as asthma is a difficult issue to inspire people to rally against. They also are a small group, with only 200 members, so in a city of millions, it is hard for their voices to be heard.
- They expect that the government requires that medical professionals are properly equipped to educate patients on asthma, while also expecting schools to educate children on asthma prevention and treatment.
- The Asthma Files could help get these physicians in touch with environmental groups in the Houston area. The Asthma Files could also attempt to inspire a physician-centered awareness group for asthma in other target cities where none exist.