Answers provided by Judith A. Harris, MS, RN, CPNP, Program Director

1) What is the name of the asthma mobile program in your city?

The Phoenix Children's Hospital Breathmobile.

2) When was it established?

The Breathmobile hit the road in January 2000.

3) How and why was it established?

The Breathmobile is modeled after a program at the Los Angeles Children's Hospital and University of Southern California. The initial idea of a Breathmobile was brought to Phoenix Children's Hospital through GlaxoSmithKline. The company donated funds for research and development of a program that would work in Phoenix.

The program was started to help combat the high rate of asthma-related ER visits and hospitalizations in children that live in inner-city Phoenix.

4) Who is served by the program?

The Breathmobile provides services inner city schools, primarily in the Phoenix Elementary School District #1, the Roosevelt School District and Creighton School District. The majority of children seen on the Breathmobile do not have easy access to health care. The Breathmobile helps improve access to asthma care by providing services in the child's school.

5) How does the mobile program work in your city -- where does it go and when, and how does your team publicize the routes?

The Breathmobile travels to 20 schools in 3 different school districts in inner-city Phoenix. We rotate through each school every 4 to 8 weeks, depending on school need. We see children on the Breathmobile Monday through Thursday. We develop our schedule for the school year with each school nurse. The schedule is given to each of the schools. We have circulated our schedule through primary care offices in the inner-city area. We plan to distribute our schedule to emergency rooms in the local vicinity.

6) How do parents and kids find out about the services offered?

Parents are informed through school personnel, primary care providers in the area, other parents, Breathmobile personnel, TV, newspaper and radio interviews.

7) How are the services funded?

Sponsors include Wal-Mart, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Aetna Foundation, Arizona Department of Health Services, AstraZeneca, and the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. The Breathmobile is also supported by public grants for asthma management and care.

8) What gaps does this program fill in your city?

The Breathmobile helps eliminate several barriers to access to health care: medically under-insured and underserved children, lack of transportation, and language and cultural barriers. The Breathmobile also provides a comprehensive asthma management program based on the NIH guidelines for the care of asthma, bringing state-of-the-art asthma care to children in need.

9) How many kids are served by your program, per day and each year?

To date we have seen over 1,000 children on the Breathmobile. On average we provide ongoing care to about 360 children with asthma each year. We have sent home more than 24,000 asthma screening forms in the schools we serve, helping to identify children with undiagnosed asthma or under-controlled asthma.

10) Over the last 10 years, how has the asthma rate changed for children in your area?

When we started in the schools 5 years ago, the area we served had some of the highest reported asthma hospitalization rates in children. I have not been able to locate an updated Department of Health report on this area.

11) How is your program affecting the kids you serve?

Our program outcomes data has shown that children followed by the Breathmobile over a period of one year have demonstrated a 44 percent drop in missed school days, a 78 percent drop in emergency department visits, and an 80 percent drop in hospital stays.