Hospital, Schools to Start Asthma Program
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Saddleback Valley Unified School District and Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center are teaming up to pilot a program aimed at educating students about asthma.
Starting in September, six Saddleback Valley elementary schools will begin an asthma awareness and management program to help prevent asthma-related absenteeism.
As part of the program, a health-care professional will visit each school to hand out informational material on asthma and to monitor the health of students who have asthma. Funds also will be set aside to help kids who suffer from asthma but do not have health care.
Developed by Mission Hospital, the asthma prevention program was made possible through a $32,500 grant from the St. Joseph Health Care System Foundation in Orange.
“Asthma is the leading cause of school absenteeism,” said Steven Brakebush, program developer and clinical manager of the respiratory care department at Mission Hospital. “If we can educate the children, educate the parents, we can reduce the severity of the symptoms.”
This year in Saddleback Valley, the district identified 1,963 students who have asthma. District officials said asthma-related illness has caused those students to miss 14,400 school days this year.
The program will be piloted at Montevideo, De Portola, Cielo Vista, Portola Hills, Rancho Canada and Trabuco Mesa elementary schools.
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