Kennett Mayor Roger Wheeler signs a proclamation celebrating the month of May as Asthma Awareness month, along with support of area health care professionals and advocates including, back row, from left, Matthew Moses, Gwendolyn Johnson, Lynne Geary, Alyce Bryant, and April Moody. [Click to enlarge]

With the support and signature of Mayor Roger Wheeler backing the initiative, Kennett is again celebrating Asthma Awareness Month in an attempt to continue improving clinical care, school and child care, home care, and increasing community awareness of asthma.

Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center, local physicians and healthcare clinics, Kennett Public Schools, city and government officials, and other individuals and organizations throughout the community are joining in a national effort on a local level to raise awareness and educate the community about comprehensive asthma management.

Recently Kennett Mayor Roger Wheeler signed a proclamation recognizing the month of May as a time for the City of Kennett and Dunklin County as a whole to continue to move forward in improving the management of asthma and educating the community on the chronic disease which can be controlled.

According to Director of Health Services for Kennett Public Schools, Deb Cook, a registered nurse, "School nurses have been working with students diagnosed with asthma and educating parents about the disease."

"One thing our nurses are teaching students, for example, is the correct use of an inhaler and helping students have access to a chamber to help the delivery of medication."

According to information provided through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Institutes of Health Web site, www.nhibi.nih.gov, asthma is a chronic disease that affects one's airways which carry air in and out of the lungs.

People with asthma deal with inflammation which makes the airways very sensitive and reactive to allergic or irritating properties causing the airways to narrow preventing sufficient air to travel to the lungs.

Hence, the wheezing, coughing and trouble breathing witnessed in many asthma sufferers.

Although asthma cannot be cured, it can be controlled through treatment, like inhalers, as Cook explained.

Asthma experts agree that educating youth and adults on the proper way to use an inhaler is crucial in keeping asthma under control.

Other ways to help with addressing problems associated with asthma include providing knowledge and resources to healthcare physicians who are diagnosing and treating those who suffer from asthma, so that they are able to pass this necessary information on to patients.

Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center (TRRMC) staff members have attended trainings regarding asthma education, treatment and prevention not only this year but in years past.

According to representatives from the hospital, the local medical facility has also adopted clinical guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health for inpatient and emergency room care which will involve more in depth patient teaching.

Also taking place in the community, through support from the Center for Disease Control and the Missouri Department Health and Senior Services Asthma Program, is an asthma initiative in which Dr. Ben Francisco, Research Assistant Professor of Child Health, Pulmonary Medicine and Allergy at the School of Medicine, University of Missouri at Columbia, has taken part in.

Francisco, who provides asthma care to children, teens, and young adults at University Physicians in Columbia, knows a lot about asthma.

Last year, as well as this year, the knowledgeable physician has provided resources, facilitated planning for asthma care, and providing asthma education to staff members at TRRMC, local physicians, and area school nurses.

Francisco is the immediate past president of the Association of Asthma Educators.

His presence and knowledge will likely benefit Dunklin County, as according to information provided by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, since 2001 Dunklin County has averaged the highest rate of hospitalizations of any county for children birth to 15 years old due to asthma related issues.

Statistics also indicate more than 20,000 Missouri school children experience some form of disability due to asthma.

According to Francisco, "The key to better managing the disease is in the public health approach by involving all components necessary to improve asthma outcomes for individuals suffering from the disease."

Through the various activities taking place during Asthma Awareness Month and continued effort in months and years to come, supporters of the asthma initiative in Kennett hope to further their "asthma ready" efforts, taking on the common chronic disorder which has staked its claim on Dunklin County.

For more information on National Asthma Awareness Month 2008 and what you can do in Dunklin County to impact the asthma community log on to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site at www.epa.gov/asthma.