Allies community health workers: Bridging the gap.

Allies Against Asthma coalitions each employ a community health worker (CHW) program as part of its community action plan. The structure and management of CHW programs vary in response to the resources and needs of the local community, as do the roles and characteristics of the CHWs hired. All programs utilize CHWs to provide community-based education and/or outreach to community members, primarily in their homes. Using an asthma action plan, most Allies CHW programs function as an extension of and link to the clinician, providing basic asthma education and care coordination in a supportive, family-friendly setting, context, and location. Community health workers rely heavily on relationship building and family empowerment to assist families in improving asthma control. Working within a coalition framework helps integrate the CHW program into other services and resources in the community. As participants in coalition activities, CHWs often bring an important and meaningful viewpoint to the coalition.

Allies against asthma: a midstream comment on sustainability.

The ability of a coalition to sustain its impact in a community over time is a vital element of success. Four sustainability strategies have emerged among Allies Against Asthma coalitions: (a) resource development; (b) institutionalization; (c) system change, including policy change; and (d) capacity building. Although it is too early to determine their ultimate success, a number of important lessons have been learned about the coalitions' sustainability efforts: (a) sustainability must be considered as a planning principle, (b) data demonstrating success will enhance efforts to sustain worthy efforts, (c) ongoing communication and relationship building are critical elements of sustainability, (d) considering sustainability can help guide membership recruitment efforts, (e) coalitions with previous asthma and/or coalition experience may be better prepared to address sustainability within a short project period, and (f) although difficult to fund, the coalition infrastructure itself is key to successfully sustaining outcomes and activities.