Arkansas School Asthma and Allergy Partnership

ASNA has accepted an opportunity to participate in The Arkansas School Asthma and Allergy Partnership providing school nurses and the children of Arkansas with an additional resource for better health. This is a collaborative initiative between health leaders in Arkansas and SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com, a web site funded by Schering/KEY, designed to support those providing care to children with asthma and allergies.

Asthma accounts for 10 million school absences per year in nearly five million children diagnosed. It is the third leading cause of preventable hospitalizations in the United States, and accounts for more than 5,000 deaths a year. Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic disease in the United States, costing the healthcare system over 18 billion dollars annually. The prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases continues to grow, probably reflecting both increased exposures and enhanced responses to allergens. The Arkansas School Asthma and Allergy Partnership can offer specific, concrete, ongoing support to those caring for school-aged children with asthma and allergies.

The major resource offered by the Arkansas School Asthma and Allergy Partnership is the web site SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com, a comprehensive resource containing multiple tools and materials suitable for school nurses, teachers, administrators, parents, and others to utilize as they manage the asthma and allergic conditions of the children in their care. The web site has been designed as the hub of an extensive web of valuable information concerning asthma and allergies, and contains more than 400 links to other valuable online resources.

Schering/KEY has dedicated a section of the SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com site entitled SchoolAsthmaAllergy.com/AR. Within this section, the Arkansas school nurse can find links and information concerning local Arkansas contacts, upcoming events, and a selection of free, orderable materials dealing with asthma and allergies.

The Arkansas School Asthma and Allergy Partnership will also be sponsoring regular events and seminars in the Arkansas area, in order to better educate and inform those caring for children with asthma and allergic disease management. Hear more at the Fall Conference.