Extension Launches Asthma Education Site

Auburn, May 29, 2002 --- Concerned by the steep increase in asthma that has occurred 
in recent years, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System has developed a comprehensive 
Web site to reach the thousands of asthma sufferers throughout the state who are not yet being 
reached with educational information.
Roughly 6 percent of Alabamians are asthma sufferers - a problem complicated by the 
state's high poverty rate of 26 percent.  The incidence of asthma tends to run higher in low-
income sectors of the population.
While asthma is a chronic disease, there are things sufferers can do to mitigate the 
effects of the disease.  
The site was developed by Laura Booth, Extension environmental education associate, in 
conjunction with web designer Robert Voitle, as a way to make asthma education available to 
larger numbers of educators, pharmacists and the general public. It is part of an educational 
initiative carried out in conjunction with Auburn University's Harrison School of Pharmacy to 
educate asthma sufferers about the variety of treatment methods available to them.  
The Alabama Extension/Pharmacy Alliance is part of a nationwide Cooperative Extension 
effort known as "Healthy People, Healthy Communities" initiative.
While the alliance's asthma educational efforts are currently limited only to a countywide 
pilot project, Booth and others involved with the initiative ultimately hope to expand their outreach 
efforts.  They see the Web site as a vital part of this effort.  
"While the pilot program is currently restricted to Tuscaloosa County, we eventually hope 
to expand the program throughout Alabama," Booth says.  "In the meantime, we believe the Web 
site will help us raise awareness among larger numbers of Alabamians."
	The site provides Extension educators and pharmacists with a variety of educational 
resources to help them raise asthma awareness among their clientele, including public service 
announcements, online PowerPoint presentations and a variety of links to general information 
about asthma awareness for educators, health professionals and the general public.
	The pilot project in Tuscaloosa County has involved recruiting local pharmacists and 
training pharmacy interns to provide on-site asthma education to their clients, such as how to take 
asthma medication and use asthma-related equipment safely and efficiently.
	Local personnel affiliated with the Area Health Education Center and the Harrison School 
of Pharmacy will provide training for these pharmacists.
	The project also has hired a local program assistant who is working with the Tuscaloosa 
County Extension Office to provide asthma-related education to children from low-income 
families.  
	Extension's role in the project will be showing asthma sufferers how asthma triggers can 
be removed throughout the home.  
	Inspiration for the Alabama Extension-Pharmacy Alliance came from the University of 
Tennessee Extension Service, which developed a similar alliance with its local School of 
Pharmacy to educate Tennesseans about the importance of childhood immunizations.
	The Web site is also designed to serve as a clearinghouse for asthma awareness 
education that is being carried out through other Extension-related programs, including the 
Alabama Home*a*Syst Project, the Children's Environmental Health Project, and the Indoor Air 
Quality and Healthy Home grant projects.
	The address for the new Extension Asthma Web site is http://www.aces.edu/asthma.
(Source: Laura Booth, Extension Environmental Education Associate, 334-844-5638)