The Long Beach Alliance for Children With Asthma

1
The Long Beach Alliance for Children With Asthma
A partnership to improve the lives of children
with asthma in our community
Elisa Nicholas, MD, MSPH2651 Elm Ave Suite
100Long Beach, CA 90806562-427-4249
2
LBACA

• Started November 1999
• Target population 90813 and Long Beach as a
  whole
• Coalition Partners community members, providers,
  two major hospitals, community clinics, LB Health
  Dept., school district, child care and
  after-school providers, City of Long Beach,
  community based organizations, managed care
  organizations, pharmaceutical companies,
  researchers, legislators, legal resources,
  environmental justice groups, ALALAC, apartment
  association

3
Long Beach, CA

• Census 2000
• 45.2 Caucasian
• 35.8 Hispanic/Latino
• 14.9 African American
• 12 Asian
• 27,000 uninsured children and 80,000 uninsured
  adults, majority from 90813
• Surrounded by freeways Ports of Long Beach and
  Los Angeles oil refineries old housing stock
  high density, particularly in 90813

4
Raising Awareness
Strengths of the coalition approach

• Access to many individuals and organizations not
  normally associated with asthma activities -
  creating new asthma stakeholders (CORAL,
  Apartment Association, Parks and Rec, Legal Aid,
  School District, Sierra Club, Physicians for
  Social Responsibility, Community Partners
  Council)
• Networking across broad spectrum of asthma
  stakeholders (school nurses, specialists, general
  practitioners, medical assistants, pharmacists,
  ALA)

5
Raising Awareness
Strengths of the coalition approach

• Easier to gain media attention with so many
  groups represented
• Layering of resources, building on one anothers
  successes and programs
• Sending consistent messages from a variety of
  sources
• Collaboration with groups who share the same
  media, greater potential for media attention and
  funding opportunities

6
Raising Awareness
Challenges of the coalition approach

• Increased awareness equals high community
  expectations balancing communitys expectations
  with those of staff, funders, and requirements of
  the coalition process
• Joint media campaign targeting diverse and
  widely dispersed populations agreeing on
  consistent messages
• Timing of implementation expectations vs. reality

7
Raising Awareness
Solutions

• Realistic timelines communicated to all coalition
  members on regular basis
• Determine tasks/activities that can be
  accomplished early on to maintain enthusiasm and
  engagement
• If something is not achievable (i.e. LAC joint
  media campaign), re-strategize (focus on local
  community)

8
Community Involvement
Strengths of coalition approach

• Access to many individuals, organizations, asthma
  stakeholders and new asthma stakeholders
• Build on the success of partner programs (JCPP)
• Ability to offer variety of activities in
  collaboration with partner organizations during
  planning phases
• Bringing diverse groups to the table community
  members access to decision-makers and
  communitys ability to keep coalition focused on
  daily challenges of living with asthma

9
Community Involvement
Challenges of coalition approach

• Keeping coalition members, professional and
  community, engaged throughout the coalition
  process balance needs for action vs. process
• Being ready to utilize coalition members to
  sustain engagement and implement activities
• Bridging a variety of levels of understanding,
  experience and expectations for coalition
• Building trust/engaging groups who feel
  threatened by coalition
• Successfully engaging hard-to-reach populations
  and groups

10
Community Involvement
Solutions

• Dedicated staff to liaison with and nurture
  community
• Meeting time and places convenient to all groups
• Child care, food and transportation for meetings
• Educational opportunities to maintain interest
• Use of facilitator to build trust and
  understanding
• Creating employment opportunities

11
(No Transcript)
12
(No Transcript)