Health center to launch asthma programs
With the help of federal grant money, a Greene County health center will begin programs to address potential causes of asthma and ways to prevent lead poisoning in children. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $105,000 to the National Nurses Centers Consortium this week to expand the Asthma Safe Kids Program and the Lead Safe Babies Program.
Several care centers, including the Primary Care Center in Mount Morris, will share the grant.
Dr. Mona Counts, a nursing professor in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, co-founded the community-owned, nonprofit center, which provides care service to more than 5,000 patients, in 1994.
Lead Safe Babies is a lead poisoning prevention program for new mothers in low-income areas.
In the Asthma Safe Kids Program, professionals visit homes to educate families about possible asthma triggers. The center will focus on the rural component of the study.
“We do home visits on kids up to the age of 18 to find out what is triggering their asthma and teach their families about the triggers and how to prevent them,” said Counts.
The main goal is to see if environmental control can reduce the incidence of asthma. Some of the major triggers that researchers have come across are kerosene heat and wood-burning stoves.
After the initial visit, center officials will conduct follow-up visits to see if they have had success with their prevention methods.
“For the purpose of the grant, we will take referrals from health-care providers with patients with asthma so they can teach and help them manage the asthma,” said Counts. “We are trying to make kids healthier.”
Asthma is one of the main reasons children miss school, and according to the Trust for America’s Health Web site, “Pennsylvania is among the top states with the highest air pollution known to affect asthma.”
“Asthma is the number one chronic disease for children, and lead poisoning is the leading environmental health hazard for children. I am delighted that we can work together to bring relief to children with asthma and prevent the awful effects of lead poisoning through these special programs,” said Donald S. Welsh, mid-Atlantic regional administrator with the EPA.