Citing high asthma hospitalization rates among black and Hispanic residents, Berkeley's Public Health Division is initiating the city's first freestanding asthma education project.

The Berkeley Zaps Asthma Project was approved by the City Council on Nov. 18 and is initially being funded by a one-year $30,000 grant from the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Initiative.

"This is a very small grant, but at least it gives us an opening for trying to get our foot in the asthma prevention door," said Marcia Brown-Machen, the city's Chronic Disease Prevention program co-director, who will oversee the project.

The project will train four to six residents from the local community to become "Asthma Community Health Workers." These health workers will conduct between 35 and 50 in-home assessments throughout South and West Berkeley to teach residents how to recognize asthma symptoms, suggest changes to the home and direct the residents to asthma treatment and prevention resources.

According to Brown-Machen, the city is targeting black and Hispanic residents because of their high asthma hospitalization rates.

The asthma hospitalization rate for blacks is the highest in the city, more than five times the rate for whites. The hospitalization rate for Hispanic children under four doubled from 1990 to 2006, according to the Public Health Division.

"One of the really unacceptable things that we've measured recently is the asthma hospitalization rate in Berkeley," Brown-Machen said. "This (project) is just a way to try to decrease the prevalence of these asthma events among the children and adults in these populations."

The money will be spent on pay for the health workers and coordination of the program, among other expenses, Brown-Machen said. She added that the city is seeking other grants to sustain the project because $30,000 cannot cover the costs of a more comprehensive program.

Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson, whose district includes some of South Berkeley, said he thinks the program will address the increasing asthma hospitalization rates.

"I think it's a very valuable program because a lot of health statistics in the case of admissions to hospitals for asthma have skyrocketed," he said. "This kind of program certainly will help to address that."

Tags: PUBLIC HEALTH, ASTHMA