Partners in Action- National Healthy Homes Month 2021
Partnerships can take a number of forms . Partnerships can integrate diverse organizations . Partnerships can seek to achieve a variety of goals . This section profiles four different partners engaged in a wide range of activities , in different settings . These demonstrate the power of partnerships , our theme of National Healthy Homes Month 2021 . OLHCHH thanks our contributors who provided this information .
PROFILE 1 : Healthy Homes Iowa ( HHI ) developed an innovative , multi-sector community partnership to improve health of children ages 2-18 diagnosed with an asthma or reactive airway disease .
This is a comprehensive profile and story from Annie Wood , Family Outreach Director , at EveryStep , our grantee in Des Moines , IA and a nonprofit since 1908 . If you would like to learn more , please write Annie at
AWood @ everystep . org
At HHI , the goal is to integrate a proven population-based approach to support children with a chronic disease and their families improve quality of life . Healthy Homes Iowa ( HHI ) accepts referrals for children 2 through 18 years of age , diagnosed with asthma or reactive airway disease . The program includes an asthma-related home assessment , supplies to actively reduce asthma triggers , and related home repairs . HHI staff also provide asthma health education and recommendations for changes to maintain a healthy home environment . The HHI program incorporates numerous outcome measures of effectiveness including the Childhood Asthma Control Test ( CACT ) for children eleven years old and younger as pre and post intervention assessments . A score of 12 or less indicates the child ’ s asthma symptoms may be poorly controlled . A score of 19 or less indicates the child ’ s asthma symptoms may not be as well controlled as they could be .
Stakeholders and partners are the Polk County Health Department , Polk County Public Works Department , Polk County Housing Trust Fund , Mid-Iowa Health Foundation , Broadlawns Medical Center , UnityPoint , Common Good Iowa , and Telligen .
In the family situation below , HHI program services offered to the family included education information , and advocacy about asthma triggers , assessment of their home environment for opportunities to improve the child ’ s asthma control , reduction or removal of asthma triggers in the home , and enhanced care coordination for effective connections to community resources .
Helping A Family
HHI staff received a referral from a pediatric pulmonologist for a child in January 2020 . While listening to her mother describe her child ’ s experience with asthma , her mother reported the child ’ s asthma and symptoms as a constant barrier limiting the child ’ s daily activities . The child ’ s mother shared her daughter ’ s struggles with asthma symptoms such as coughing , wheezing , waking up in the night , and limited ability to participate in physical activity with her peers . The pre-intervention CACT score of 14 indicated the child ’ s asthma symptoms could be improved with proper intervention .