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Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control
Environmental Health Investigations Branch
Community Participation & Education Section
Asthma Management Academy (AsMA)

Environmental Health investigations Branch

Asthma Management Academy (AsMA)

What is the AsMA?

Asthma Management Academy training participants

The Asthma Management Academy (AsMA) is a program of California Breathing, the state asthma program. The AsMA trains community health workers (CHWs) and other health educators how to deliver guidelines-based asthma education to individuals and families with asthma.

The training incorporates hands-on activities about:

Scope of asthma
Asthma triggers, such as mold, pests, and smoking
Asthma medications and delivery devices
Guidelines-based assessment and monitoring tools, such as the Asthma Action Plan (AAP) and Asthma Control Test (ACT)
Best practices for home visits

More information about the AsMA and its impacts are in the sections below.

AsMA Partner Organizations and Participants

Since 2018, the AsMA has trained nearly 800 CHWs and other health educators from over 100 organizations including:

Federally Qualified Health Centers
Community-Based Organizations
Managed Care Plans
Local Health Departments
Hospitals

Impact of the AsMA

The impact of the AsMA is measured in the following ways:

CHW knowledge and skills
Impact on patients and clients with asthma

CHW Knowledge and Skills

AsMA participants build skills, knowledge, and competency in asthma education. Through competency testing conducted by a certified asthma educator (AE-C), AsMA participants demonstrated their increased asthma knowledge and newly developed skills after attending the AsMA.

AsMA participants increased their asthma knowledge and skills. On average, participants scored 96% on a competency test covering:

The scope of asthma
Asthma triggers such as mold, pests, and smoking
Asthma medications and teaching proper use of medication delivery devices
Using asthma assessment and monitoring tools, such as the ACT and AAP

Impact on Patients and Clients with Asthma

One of the goals of the AsMA is to reduce the asthma burden in the most impacted communities. The AsMA has shown a positive impact on individuals with asthma through reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations, improved asthma control, and fewer missed work or school days.

Among individuals with poorly controlled asthma who completed at least one asthma education session taught by AsMA-trained CHWs and health educators:

	84% had reduced emergency department visits and hospitalizations
	74% had fewer missed work or school days
	66% had improved asthma control

Training Logistics

The AsMA is a no-cost training for CHWs and other health educators. It is a live, virtual three-day training facilitated by CHWs and an AE-C. Each AsMA has up to 12 participants.

The information taught in the AsMA 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 AsMA curriculum focuses on adult learners and builds skills, knowledge, and competency through discussion, videos, and skill-building activities. Each participant receives an asthma education kit, which includes inhaler demonstration devices, a peak flow meter, spacer, participant manual, and access to AsMA Learning Videos which are available in English or Spanish.