Pediatric asthma as a population health challenge

Certain health care challenges pose unique threats to our most vulnerable children, especially disadvantaged and minority children living in large urban environments like Washington, D.C. Asthma is by far the most common chronic disease of childhood, and it disproportionately affect at-risk urban children, creating a classic population health problem requiring multi-faceted interventions that “do things better while doing better things.” IMPACT DC (“Improving Pediatric Asthma Care in the District of Columbia”) has existed since 2001, and it provides a useful model of how a highly collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and novel approach to research, care, advocacy, and education can improve outcomes for our most vulnerable children in those environments where they live, learn, and play.