Breathe LA Announces California Community Foundation Funding for Breath of Life Index Clinical Asthma Research

BREATHE California of Los Angeles County (BREATHE LA) is pleased to announce the award of $50,000 "Core Research in Health Care" grant funding from the California Community Foundation for fiscal year 2009-2010.

The funding award will support an additional one year project to test effectiveness and ensure cultural appropriateness of the Breath of Life Index (BLI). The grant funding goal is to provide medical practitioners effective tools to address the asthma epidemic in Los Angeles' African American Community. Co-funded with BREATHE LA Center for Healthy Lungs, California Community Foundation funding is an extension of an initial 2008-2009 award of $57,000. 2009-2010 funding now moves Breathe of Life Index research to implementation phase with BREATHE LA pediatric researcher Dr. Kenneth Kwong (Harbor/UCLA) to support Asthma Coalition of Los Angeles County initiative of reducing health disparities and supporting asthma research.

The one year project will identify clinical interventions for improved asthma management among African Americans in Los Angeles County Service Provider Areas (SPAs) in South (SPA 6), East (SPA 7) and South Bay (SPA 8) areas and tests the effectiveness and cultural relevance of the Breath of Life Index in African American communities.

BREATHE LA Asthma Lung Power is a related program providing children with the tools to effectively communicate about and control their asthma.

BREATHE LA anticipates the outcome of this research to reduce asthma-related Emergency Room visits by the study population, increase communication between parents and a primary care/medical providers, and overall improvement of asthma management among African American children in the study population. Breath of Life Index preliminary findings will be released in September, 2009. Findings from this new award will be released in August, 2010.

Clinicians and researchers interested in the
Breath of Life Index are welcome to attend

BREATHE LA mission is to promote clean air and healthy lungs through research, education and technology. Programs and services include Center for Healthy Lungs research, Asthma Lung Power asthma control program for children and families, Pulmones Libres COPD awareness of low income Spanish speaking populations, O24u Environmental Education for elementary school children, and 4UNI Teens Helping Teens Quit Smoking teen tobacco cessation program.