What’s New at RAMP
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Resources for Safe Schools During COVID
Schools in California and across the nation are returning to in-person instruction and planning for a broader reopening in the fall. How can schools reopen safely? To help answer that question, earlier this week, Dr. Naomi Bardach joined RAMP for a presentation, COVID, Asthma, and Safe Schools. An Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Policy in…
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World Asthma Day 2021: Reflective on a Year of Challenge and Resilience
For over a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has upended everyone’s lives. From the millions of lives lost to the growing economic inequities to the massive changes in our experiences with school, work, and community, the impacts of COVID-19 are vast and ongoing. For World Asthma Day 2021, we reflect on how the pandemic has affected…
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Freight Automation: Dangers, Threats, and Opportunities for Health and Equity
Freight Automation: Dangers, Threats, and Opportunities for Health and Equity takes a deep dive into how automation in the freight transportation system affects the health of workers, communities, and the environment — and also how these effects will be inequitably felt by people with low incomes and communities of color. Background The freight transportation system in…
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Addressing Racism as a Root Cause in Asthma Strategy and Policy Creation
Public health leaders have long recognized the significant racial disparities in diseases like asthma. For example, African Americans have higher asthma prevalence, asthma emergency department visit and hospitalization rates, and asthma mortality than whites. In recent decades, the conversation broadened to include racial inequities – that is, the understanding that inequitable access to clean air…
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COVID-19 and Declining ED Visits for Asthma
As this new year begins, we hope you and your families are staying healthy. COVID-19 continues to bring loss for so many across the United States and the world. The pandemic is also having some rather surprising effects on children with asthma. New research out of Boston Children’s Hospital shows a significantly decreased incidence of…
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Updated Asthma Guidelines
The long-awaited updates to the guidelines for the diagnosis, management and treatment of asthma are here! Developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a part of the National Institutes of Health, the 2020 Focused Updates to the Asthma Management Guidelines are designed to improve patient care and support informed decision making about…
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Indoor Air Quality and COVID
Asthma stakeholders have long recognized the importance of air quality. Understanding the numerous factors that make indoor air quality worse, asthma advocates have worked to reduce the presence of environmental asthma triggers — like mold or harmful cleaning products — while also incorporating the important roles of ventilation and filtration into recommendations and policies. Similarly,…
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New Wildfire Smoke Resources
Almost overnight, most of California’s air is now thick with wildfire smoke. The wildfire season is here. Last month we shared several wildfire resources to assist asthma stakeholders as they support families and individuals with asthma. We now want to share a few more. First, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has updated its AirNow maps…
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National Healthy Homes Month: Healthy Housing for All
Advocating for healthy housing has long been a key strategy in RAMP’s effort to reduce the inequitable exposure to asthma triggers in low-income communities and communities of color. As one of the founding members of the California Healthy Housing Coalition, we are proud to join our healthy housing partners and colleagues across the country in…