sthma is a major health concern in urban areas due to environmental factors such as poor housing conditions, crowding, tobacco smoke, and air pollution. San Francisco is no different from other areas, and in the city’s southeast neighborhoods, people are more adversely affected than in other areas.
In the mid-1990s more than 20% of all children under 18 years were living in poverty and were hospitalized at disproportionately higher rates than other children. African Americans are a particularly high risk population for asthma, and in San Francisco’s Bayview/Hunters Point neighborhood, over 15% of all children had asthma.
San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) physicians initiated a program to fight the epidemic of pediatric asthma. In response to the significant community need, SFGH pediatricians developed an enhanced medical-social model that effectively reduces symptoms of persistent asthma. In addition to providing outpatient, clinic-based care such as evaluation and prescription of medication, the Asthma Clinic uses community health workers, who provide a strong bridge between the clinic and the home. They reinforce optimal asthma care, medication use, and the individual’s action plan through home visits and extensive telephone contact.
SFGHM has significant expertise in addressing medical and social factors that affect our patient population: in the Asthma Clinic 43% of patients are Latino, 43% are African American, 11% are Asian, and 3% are white. The Asthma Clinic is a nationally-recognized model and is largely supported by the San Francisco Department of Public Health.
