With childhood asthma rates in Northern Manhattan four times the national average, the Ambulatory Care Network at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital partnered with the community of Washington Heights/Inwood to initiate the Washington-Heights Inwood Network (WIN) for Asthma program. The program began in May 2006 to improve outcomes for children with poorly controlled asthma by providing culturally relevant asthma education. To date, Community Health Workers have enrolled 400 families. Families who completed the one-year program reported a greater than 50 percent drop in emergency room visits, a greater than 50 percent drop in hospitalization and a 30 percent drop in school absenteeism. Caregivers also reported that they were significantly more confident in caring and controlling their child's asthma after participating in the program.
Initially funded through a grant from the Merck Childhood Asthma Network (MCAN), WIN for Asthma was established to strengthen the existing community-wide network of care. The program targets caregivers of children from birth to 18 years with high-risk asthma in Washington Heights, Inwood and West Harlem and lasts one year.
The program utilizes community-based, bilingual, heath workers who act as a single point of contact for the families to educate them on the best ways to control their child's asthma. All families of children admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of asthma are automatically referred to the WIN for Asthma program and receive basic asthma education. Since 2007, the program has provided asthma education and support to nearly 400 families living within the target area. Referrals to the program come through the hospital, community groups, schools, daycares and community physicians.
"Our Community Health Workers are key to the program's success," says Dr. Adriana Matiz, medical director of the WIN for Asthma program and pediatrician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital. "Their intensive work and their understanding of myriad of obstacles the families face really create the vital links that support the families in the long term."