IMPACT DC Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia

IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic is an award-winning pediatric asthma program in Washington, D.C., dedicated to improving asthma care and outcomes for children through clinical care, education, research and advocacy.

A disproportionately high number of children suffer from asthma in the District of Columbia. IMPACT DC’s mission is to lessen the need for emergency room visits and hospital stays by educating patients and families about ways to manage the condition and connecting them with valuable resources in their local community.

Asthma Care

The heart of the program is the IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic. The clinic sees children who have recently been to the emergency room, were hospitalized for asthma or who generally have trouble controlling their asthma.

When you and your child visit the clinic, our team of asthma educators and clinicians will provide detailed medical consultation and unique care plan for your child. We then communicate and coordinate care with your child’s primary care provider, school nurse and others involved in your child’s asthma care.

IMPACT DC asthma educators provide individualized education about the disease and medications while showing children and families how to best use inhalers and other devices. We also explain how to identify and reduce exposure to allergens or other triggers that may cause asthma symptoms.

Outreach

We believe that community education is valuable to bring high-quality care and education beyond the hospital and clinic walls. IMPACT DC staff participates throughout the year in community outreach, providing information and education through health fairs, school-based programs and other educational and advocacy events. For more information on these activities, visit our outreach page.

Research

Other program goals are to understand why so many children have asthma and to ultimately reduce the number of children that suffer from the disease. Since 2001, we have monitored pediatric asthma visits to emergency rooms and hospitalizations within the District of Columbia. A report with the most recent data from 2002-2009 is available online, along with additional information on current IMPACT DC research activities.

IMPACT DC serves as one of eight sites of the Inner City Asthma Consortium (ICAC), funded by the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The Consortium’s participating sites across the country study the effectiveness of asthma therapies in children and young adults.

Our team also works closely with colleagues from the Center for Genetic Medicine Research, the Goldberg Center for Community Pediatric Health, other Children’s National divisions and community organizations.

In 2014, IMPACT DC received funding from PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) for a study titled Improving Asthma Outcomes through Stress Management. This study has been featured on the Children’s National Innovation District, and published in the December 2016 issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

In 2019, IMPACT DC received funding from Fannie Mae under their Sustainable Communities Innovation Challenge, a national competition to identify innovative ideas to help children and families enjoy safer homes. IMPACT DC partnered with community-based organizations such as Yachad, the Institute for Public Health Innovation and Local Initiatives Support Corporation, to develop and implement a novel Virtual Home Visiting Program. This pilot used smartphones to enable asthma home visits, leveraging the partnership among Children’s pediatric asthma specialists, health educators and community housing remediation specialists to conduct video calls with families in their homes and identify potential housing asthma triggers. This pilot proved highly effective and successful particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, as it allowed DC area children and families to receive asthma home visiting services during the pandemic. The success of this program has been summarized in a white paper summary report. Today, IMPACT continues to offer virtual home visits, study their efficacy and improve the program for the future.

Contact Information

For more information about IMPACT DC, please contact us at 202-476-3970 or email impactdc@childrensnational.org. If you need to fax documents over, please use 202-476-2126.