Overview
The goals, objectives and strategies outlined below are a result of a comprehensive planning process undertaken by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Asthma Prevention and Control Program (APCP) in collaboration with the Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership (MAAP), asthma partners, stakeholders, and thought leaders across Massachusetts.
Goals
1. Advance access to safe, healthy, stable, and affordable housing in Massachusetts to address asthma inequities.
2. Establish healthy school environments that address asthma inequities through evidence-based asthma prevention and control policies and practices.
3. Foster coordination between community and clinical care in Massachusetts to address asthma inequities.
4. Achieve air quality levels that support equitable asthma prevention and control, and improve the overall health of Massachusetts residents.
View the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan for Asthma in Massachusetts (PDF) | (DOCX) for additional goals, objectives and strategies.
Data
Despite high rankings in overall population health, Massachusetts like many other New England states, has a high prevalence of asthma compared to national rates.
Significant inequities in asthma outcomes persist within Massachusetts. As can be seen below, rates of asthma associated hospitalization and emergency department visits for Black non-Hispanic and Hispanic residents are three to four times higher than those of White non-Hispanic residents.
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The history of structural racism — the public policies, institutional practices, and social norms that together maintain racial hierarchies — and its impact across the country, and within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is often overlooked or unacknowledged, yet it is pervasive and unmistakably harmful to everyone. These historic and ongoing policies of racial segregation and disinvestment have led to vast health inequities, including in exposures to asthma risk factors such as poor housing quality, environmental tobacco smoke, poor air quality, and access to quality culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services.
Learn more about asthma from a variety of data sources on Massachusetts State Health Assessment
Community Engagement
Goals from the 2022-2026 Strategic Plan for Asthma in Massachusetts were developed through a comprehensive process undertaken by the Massachusetts Department of Health (DPH) Asthma Prevention and Control Program (APCP) and the Massachusetts Asthma Action Partnership (MAAP). The development of goals, objectives and strategies were grounded in strategies outlined in the CDC EXHALE technical package for asthma.
Extensive outreach efforts to existing and previously engaged partners, as well as targeted outreach and leveraging networks resulted in the participation of a wide range of partners across the state in the development of the strategic plan. Through a structured, iterative process, stakeholders for each of the priority areas of Housing, Schools, Clinical & Community Coordination and Outdoor Air Quality developed a set of goals, objectives, and strategies over a series of sessions that formed the foundation of the 2022–2026 Strategic Plan for Asthma in Massachusetts.
Implementation of the strategies and activities making up the Strategic Plan for Asthma in Massachusetts is incorporated into the work plans of the APCP, MAAP, and many partner organizations. Evaluation of progress in achieving the goals of the plan has been incorporated into the annual MAAP summit.
A wide-range of partners work collaboratively to implement asthma policy-related goals. DPH provides data and data analysis expertise to the group as requested while promoting other non-policy related goals.
- Learn more about the partners involved in asthma prevention and control work
- Search for resources related to asthma on the State Health Assessment