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Imani's Story - November 21, 2007
Positively IMPACTing Children Living with Asthma
Like the other 6 million children in the United States with asthma, 8-year-old Imaniand his family have been doing their best to cope with the disease. Imani’s dad, Reuben, also has asthma, so when Imani was diagnosed at age 2, his family thought they were accustomed to the medications and lifestyle modifications that came with it. For the most part, the medications helped Imani control his asthma, but recently he had a severe asthma attack. His parents took him to the Children’s National Medical Center Emergency Department for treatment.
When they arrived, Imani and his family were relieved to find a compassionate team who helped stop his wheezing. But they soon found that Children’s would provide them with more than immediate relief.
"Here in the District, we’ve demonstrated that integrated, coordinated care can help families manage their children’s asthma,” said Dr. Teach. “Our hope is that this model will be replicated in urban environments around the country so we can help more children like Imani better manage their asthma."
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In 2001, Children’s began IMPACT DC (Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia) to monitor the use of emergency departments in Washington, DC for acute pediatric asthma care. The ultimate goals of IMPACT DC are to reduce asthma morbidity, improve the connection between primary care and patients and help children rely less on emergency department visits for asthma care.
At his visit to the IMPACT DC asthma clinic, Imani and his parents met with an asthma educator to learn how to better manage his asthma. They found ways to help make the home “asthma safe,” such as discontinuing the use of incense and using hypoallergenic bed sheets.
“I’ve been dealing with asthma myself for a long time, so I thought I knew a lot about managing it, but the clinic provided extreme education, which was a big surprise to us,” explains Reuben.
In addition, the clinical team at Children’s scheduled an appointment for the family to update Imani’s pediatrician on the asthma attack.
According to Stephen J. Teach, MD, MPH, medical director of IMPACT DC, part of the program’s success is its ability to connect families with key services and organizations within their communities.
“Our goal is to help families better understand how to manage asthma as a chronic condition, rather than episodically,” explains Dr. Teach. “By capitalizing on ‘teachable moments’ we can help steer families toward healthier lives and more effective, long-term asthma care.”
In addition to the world-class clinical care, IMPACT DC has collaborated with Children’s Research Institute to study the IMPACT DC model of care in a prospective randomized clinical trial. The results, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine in May 2006, were quite astounding: Children’s asthma clinic helped decrease the number of subsequent asthma visits by nearly 50 percent, while the use of controller medications increased by more than 100 percent.
“The biggest change I’ve seen is that Imani is more active now, both at school and in the neighborhood,” said his mother, Martha. “He doesn’t get as huffy and puffy when he exercises.”
That’s good news for Imani, who is currently on a soccer team and loves playing catch with his dad.
In May 2006, IMPACT DC was recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency with the prestigious National Leadership Award in Asthma Management. But the team at IMPACT DC isn’t content with helping only the children in Washington, DC.
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