Asthma Home-Based Services Toolkit

These resources are for Minnesota local public health agencies (LPH) or other health-based organizations interested in developing a program to deliver asthma home-based services.  This toolkit provides resources and educational tools to support health care professionals providing the services.  This is not a comprehensive toolkit, but a starting point.  Feel free to utilize additional resources that will support your model program and meet the needs of your community and individuals with asthma.

Mentoring: Local Public Health Staff  

The Minnesota Department of Health’s Asthma Program has been connecting LPH agencies that have experience with providing asthma home-based services with other LPH agencies who are starting to build a program in their community.

Peer to Peer - Local Public Health staff mentoring includes:

• Overview of components of a quality asthma home-based services model
• Guidance on development and use of basic forms for data collection and client assessment
• Instruction on environmental asthma trigger mitigation with tools and home assessment.
• A possible ride-along to observe a scheduled public health visit with a client/family in their home.
• How a Community Health Worker could be used to support asthma home-based services.

For more information about the mentoring program, contact the Minnesota Department of Health’s Asthma Program at health.asthma@state.mn.us or call 651-201-5909.  

Training: Asthma Triggers in the Home

This free 40-minute online training module Reducing Environmental Triggers of Asthma in the Home was developed for health care providers, public health nurses, and certified asthma educators (AE-C), to learn about environmental triggers found in the home. The training builds knowledge surrounding triggers of asthma for those who may already provide asthma home services or asthma education in their community.

Part 1: Home Assessment: Review of what an indoor asthma trigger is, how to identify these triggers, and steps to reduce or eliminate them. An example of how to complete a walk-through home assessment is included. 

Part 2: Resource Section: Printable information on topics discussed in the training video and tools to use when conducting a home assessment or providing asthma self-mangement education are provided.

This training has been effective across Minnesota and on a National level to train public health staff and other health care professionals in developing a greater knowledge of indoor and outdoor environmental triggers of asthma.

Additional online training:

Asthma Basics - This is a free, one-hour interactive online module designed to help people learn more about asthma. This course developed by the American Lung Association is ideal for frontline healthcare professionals like nurses or community health care workers, as well as individuals who have asthma. Asthma Basics also includes comprehensive resources like asthma medications, and demonstration videos and downloads. This course is available in English or Spanish.

Asthma - Motivational Interviewing Online Course - Saint Paul College - Certified Asthma Educators and other Health Care Professionals who complete the course will expand their knowledge of the Four Components of Asthma Motivational Interviewing:

• Building Rapport
• Questioning the Patient
• Educating the Patient
• Closing the Interview

Developed by Saint Paul College and the MDH Asthma Program, this one hour course offers ONE CEU. There is a $ 25.00 course fee - you can register and complete the course online at anytime.

Additional resources

Developing an Asthma Home-based Services program:

• Asthma Action Plan - MDH Asthma Program- Asthma action plans (AAPs) are written, individualized self-management and educational tools that provide daily and emergency guidance to asthma patients, parents, and caregivers at home, school, and the workplace and community settings. Available in child and adult in English or Spanish. 
• Asthma Home Environment Checklist (PDF) – Developed by EPA, CDC, and HUD. The resource guides home visitors in identifying environmental asthma triggers most commonly found in homes.
• Asthma Control Test for Children ages 12 years and older – A test to determine if asthma symptoms are well controlled. 
• Asthma Control Test for Children ages 4-11 - A test to determine if asthma symptoms are well controlled. 
• Asthma Medication Poster – MDH Asthma Program - posters to support and foster conversations between patient and provider to gain insight of patient self-management challenges and ways to help them improve their self-management skills.
• Asthma Triggers Sheet- MDH Asthma Program –identifies asthma triggers and what a person with asthma can do to reduce those triggers.  
• Health Risks of Secondhand Smoke – MDH Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Information and resources on Tobacco topics and contact information for Quit Plan Services. 
• Mold and Moisture in the Home – MDH Indoor Air Program – Information and resources on keeping a home free from mold and moisture problems. 
• Triggers in the Home Poster  - American Lung Association poster that identifies asthma triggers in specific rooms of a residential home. 
• What Triggers Your Asthma Worksheets – American Lung Association – Worksheet that identifies asthma triggers.  Available in English, Spanish, and Navajo.  Low literacy.
• Instructional Videos for Asthma Medications – National Jewish Health – Instructional videos that demonstrate proper inhaler technique for inhaled medications for asthma and other lung diseases. 
• Iggy and the Inhalers FREE Downloadable Patient Handouts (PDF) – handouts cover a variety of asthma topic areas for children.

National resources:

• Asthma: Home-Based Multi-Trigger, Multicomponent Environmental Interventions- Children and Adolescents with Asthma  - Community Preventive Services Task Force findings on home-Based asthma programs.  Based on evidence from a systematic review of 22 studies (search period 1966-February 2008). 
• Asthma Community Network – Designed for community-based asthma programs to network and achieve health and quality of life improvements for people with asthma. 
• EXHALE Technical Package – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the technical package represents a group of strategies, which, based on the best available evidence, can improve asthma control and reduce health care costs.  The resource is available to assist in informing decision-making in communities, organizations, and states. 
• National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Expert Panel Report 3: National Clinical Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma –Best Practice Guidance for Clinicians and Health Care Professionals on asthma.  PDF – 60 pages. 
• National Center for Healthy Housing – is a non-profit organization that offers resources to federal, state, and local agencies on program planning and capacity building around creating and supporting healthy and safe homes. Building Systems to Sustain Home-Based Asthma Services, is a suite of e-Learning modules to educate public health professionals about how to implement and sustain asthma home-based services. 
• Public Health Institute – A collection of asthma resources. The work is a collaboration between Public Health Institute and other organizations. 
• Strategies for Addressing Asthma in Homes – This report (11 pages) was prepared by CDC along with input from a national workgroup. This report includes the workgroup’s suggestions for home-based strategies and outlines core and additional elements that are important for home visits.
• How Lungs Work
  A general public education video created by the American Lung Association for use with patients in schools and clinics. This 3-minute video simplifies how lungs work and shows how lungs are an essential part of the respiratory system.