The Asthma Management Academy (AsMA) is a unique set of trainings for
community health workers (CHWs) and other health educators to learn how to deliver high quality, asthma self-management education (AS-ME), as outlined in the
national asthma guidelines. Evidence suggests intensive AS-ME improves asthma control and medication adherence, reduces asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations, and delivers a positive return on investment.
Impact of the AsMA
The impact of the AsMA is measured in the following ways:
- CHW knowledge and skills
- Evidence-based strategies implemented by CHWs
CHW Knowledge and Skills
AsMA participants build skills, knowledge, and competency about asthma self-management education in the AsMA. Through competency testing conducted by a certified asthma educator, AsMA participants demonstrated increased asthma knowledge and mastered skills after attending the AsMA.
Evidence-Based Strategies Delivered by CHWs
AsMA participants are encouraged to implement evidence-based strategies to improve asthma control, such as conducting teach-backs. A teach-back is a method of checking understanding by asking the patient or client to state in their own words what they need to know or do about their health. Teach-backs are associated with improved health outcomes and patient understanding. After attending the AsMA, participants began conducting teach-backs in their own programs.
Training Logistics
The AsMA is a no-cost training for asthma educators. It is a live, virtual three-day training facilitated by CHWs and a certified asthma educator (AE-C). The AsMA is available in English or Spanish. Each AsMA has approximately 15 people in each training. The training sessions cover:
The information taught in these training sessions is based on the national asthma guidelines and adapted by the Association of Asthma Educators, the California Department of Public Health, and community-based organizations that conduct asthma home visiting. The training sessions focus on adult learners and build skills, knowledge, and competency through discussion, videos, and skill-building activities. Each participant receives an asthma training kit, which includes inhaler demonstration devices, a peak flow meter, spacer, and participant manual.
Is your organization interested in the AsMA?
Email us at California.Breathing@cdph.ca.gov
Funding
AsMA
is a project of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). AsMA was
developed by CDPH with funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC-RFA-EH19-1902CONT21) and the California Proposition 99
Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax Fund.āā