American Lung Association in Hawaii

With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, NCHH has funded two rounds of Healthy Homes Workforce Development Mini-Grants, with applications open during late 2017 and spring 2018. These mini-grants help communities develop their workforce capacity to offer home-visiting services related to healthy homes, and to build a pool of trained community health workers (CHWs) trained in the healthy homes principles.
Founded on Kauai in 1929, the American Lung Association in Hawaii (ALA-HI) is the oldest private nonprofit voluntary health agency in the state. Following its mission to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease, ALA-HI partners with schools to provide life-changing asthma management education for children focused on underserved low-income communities and Native Hawaiian populations. These high-priority populations experience significantly higher rates of asthma than both state and national averages.
As a current 2018 mini-grantee, the ALA-HI is extending its fight for air into the homes of children living with asthma by providing CHWs with the training, resources, and support they need to provide in-home indoor air quality assessments and targeted solutions. Through two interactive webinars that reach participants in all of Hawaii’s islands, ALA-HI will provide CHWs with training specific to Hawaii’s unique needs and expand recruitment for home visiting services.
This project follows a 2016 healthy homes pilot to provide indoor air quality training to CHWs in Hawaii. In a follow-up survey to the pilot training, many of the participating partners expressed an interest in additional trainings regarding asthma management in children, as well as evaluation and assessment tools. Key goals moving forward are to continue supporting current partners with additional resources and training opportunities as well as identify areas for further intervention and impact in the community. This project continues collaboration with the CHWs with whom ALA-HI has already built relationships, providing them additional trainings and resources, which will allow them to continue providing indoor air quality assessments during home visits.