Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Program

In collaboration with the University of California, San Francisco, the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) program will provide professional services for the APPPUC 2 Asthma Champions Program. This project provides a partnership in the implementation of an educational outreach program for Bay Area physicians interested in asthma management and prevention.

Through this project, the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) program provides state-level policy leadership to improve environments and public health. RAMP will leverage the structure of the Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA) Network to mobilize on-the-ground work in order to influence land use and transportation policies as well as school health.

This project will: (1) engage the public health community in local and state government efforts to address climate change; (2) develop and implement pilot projects, funded through competitive mini-grants, which demonstrate models for engagement in community climate action; and (3) deliver targeted communications, public policy and advocacy leadership.

This grant will support the participation by the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) program in the Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative, a broad partnership among six coalitions and numerous organizations working to protect public health in communities heavily impacted by air pollution.

This funding provides general operating support to reduce asthma disparities through advocacy, policy change, improving clinical care and management, and reducing asthma triggers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

RAMP, in partnership with the National REACH Coalition, will develop and implement a Community Transformation Plan using evidence-based and practice-based strategies to reduce or eliminate racial or ethnic health disparities in chronic disease risk factors and outcomes. Strategies will be tied to proper nutrition and physical activity outcome measures and include implementing, maintaining, and/or strengthening policy, systems, or environmental improvements.

RAMP will: 1) continue efforts to promote health and equity through public policy campaigns related to outdoor air quality and/or the built environment; 2) sustain RAMP’s clearinghouse role, reaching a broad network with asthma research, promising practices, events, and policies; and 3) support local asthma coalitions and/or other public health or environmental justice programs to engage in public policy related to environmental asthma triggers.

RAMP proposes to build on past successes in pursuing new and improved efforts related to the built environment and school environments. RAMP has a long and strong history of successfully influencing policy at the regional and state levels as well as providing technical assistance and training for asthma coalitions and a broad array of advocates in the fields of public health and environmental justice.

RAMP serves as the only asthma-related Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities as part of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's REACH US program. RAMP focuses on diesel pollution, housing quality, land use and transportation policies, school and child care interventions, and clinical management.

As a CDC Center for Excellence in Eliminating Disparities (CEED) in asthma, the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP) program uses a socio-ecological approach to work to reduce asthma disparities in African American and Latino populations. In this project, RAMP aims to reduce environmental triggers in homes, schools, and in the outdoor air, and to improve culturally competent clinical management.