Asthma Education, Policy, and Care Coverage Grant

The Asthma Education, Policy, and Care Coverage grant program aims to enhance childhood asthma outcomes by providing asthma self-management education (AS-ME) to students and caregivers across Illinois. The initiative will support training on best practices, improve access to asthma medications, and evaluate emergency asthma medication provisions in schools. By leveraging partnerships with local organizations and delivering tailored educational interventions, the program focuses on strengthening asthma management systems and promoting health equity in asthma care.

Program Description
The Asthma Education, Policy, and Care Coverage grant program aligns with components of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) EXHALE Technical Package, and the Community Preventive Services Task Force school-based asthma intervention recommendations, which focus on key levers to improve childhood asthma outcomes. The recipient of the award will improve statewide infrastructure and provide asthma self-management education (AS-ME) to students with asthma and their caregivers; provide asthma education and/or training, including on policies and environmental best practices related to asthma control; and conduct evaluation of statewide RESCUE undesignated emergency asthma medications program implementation in Illinois schools.
The recipient will expand access to and delivery of AS-ME to students with asthma and their families and/or caregivers utilizing an evidence-based curriculum. Caregivers may include other partners such as school staff and child care providers. Capacity and training needs of organizations should be assessed prior to implementation. AS-ME may be provided in-person or virtually, dependent upon recipient and partner organization preferences. Asthma education and communication interventions should be tailored to needs of key audiences, including individuals with asthma and caregivers, along with intermediary audiences (e.g., health professionals or school personnel, etc.).
The recipient will also work to strengthen systems to improve guidelines-based care, access to asthma medications, and encourage adoption, implementation, and evaluation of asthma policies and best practices. The recipient will provide statewide education and/or facilitate focused training on policies related to asthma control to interest holders such as public health professionals, community-based organizations, school staff, child care providers, and the public. Utilizing key partners, including Asthma and Allergy Impact and Rescue, the recipient will conduct both process and outcome evaluation of statewide RESCUE undesignated emergency asthma medications program implementation. Evaluation efforts should include a thorough, descriptive assessment of implementation, stock emergency asthma medication usage and events, and associated health and economic outcomes.