BREATHE Program

BREATHE is an initiative within Louisiana's Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.

BREATHE stands for Bringing Respiratory Health Equity for Asthmatics Through Healthier Environments. True to its name, it is focused on providing asthma services that take the environmental triggers of asthma into account.

Do you have a patient who can benefit from the BREATHE program?

Are you a patient interested in self-enrolling in BREATHE?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Tracking Program has awarded a cooperative agreement to the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) Section of Environmental Epidemiology and Toxicology (SEET) Tracking Program since 2009. This program funding has directly supported Louisiana’s health department to build environmental health capacity and a state environmental health surveillance system, as well as to guide and make possible several opportunities that support state health interventions.

Recent challenging events in Louisiana have included hurricanes, man-made environmental disasters, and most recently, COVID-19. BREATHE has been a growing initiative within the LDH Tracking Program since 2019.

In October 2020, Tracking staff from SEET applied for and were awarded funding through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement, in partnership with Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, New Orleans Health Department, and Louisiana Center for Health Equity. This award enabled the program to pilot BREATHE virtual home visits in socially and environmentally vulnerable areas of the state with a high burden of COVID-19 and asthma. The BREATHE program has partnered with Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital to provide virtual home visits to clients with poorly controlled asthma as well as home environmental concerns.

Partners

• Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital
• Green and Healthy Homes Initiative
• Louisiana Center for Health Equity
• LDH Section of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
• New Orleans Health Department

BREATHE Program News 

• LDH’s BREATHE program receives “Gold” for Environmental Health Innovation Award During COVID-19 by the National Environmental Health Association.
  • Read the article featured in the National Environmental Health Association's Journal of Environmental Health
• LDH’s BREATHE Program was awarded EPA's Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Program award (+$1 million over three years; to begin later in 2024). The funding supports a greater focus on asthma patients from areas where high social vulnerability, poor outdoor air quality, housing concerns, and high asthma prevalence overlap. Grant activities will continue to include virtual home visits, but will additionally make available indoor air monitoring and in-home assessments. BREATHE is fostering partnerships with community-based organizations to improve referrals to the program. 

Contact

For more info, email us at [email protected] or [email protected].