New Britain General campus: (860) 224-5900 x4229
For families learning to live and cope with asthma
The Hospital of Central Connecticut's New Britain Asthma Initiative (NBAI), in partnership with the New Britain Health Department, provides a free, case management program for children with asthma and their families.
The unique program offers long-term guidance, while working with your child's primary care provider, to help treat and manage this chronic disease. It offers asthma education, including for medications and related equipment; and home environmental assessments, as needed.
Learn more:
What is Asthma?
Services
The program provides case management services for the patient and family, including:
- Assessing asthma severity to determine which services are needed.
- Demonstrating how to recognize symptoms of asthma that are not being controlled effectively.
- Teaching about the child's specific asthma treatment plan. This includes learning how to monitor asthma signs and symptoms and use medication and equipment, including a peak flow meter, if designated. (A peak flow meter measures how well air moves out of the lungs.)
- Providing an asthma action plan, a color-coded patient-specific guide to medications and treatment; and an asthma trigger control plan.
- Meeting six months after the initial meeting to reinforce the asthma treatment plan.
- Conducting, as necessary, a home environmental assessment to check for asthma triggers, including indoor pollutants (pets, dust, mold, pests) with a special focus on the sleep environment.
NBAI program referrals and eligibility
NBAI serves children through age 18 who live in New Britain, Bristol, Southington, Plainville and Berlin, and children whose pediatricians in those communities are members of The Hospital of Central Connecticut staff. Children are referred if they've been
- treated for asthma at the hospital's Emergency Department;
- admitted to the hospital with asthma;
- referred by their pediatrician.
Patient and family counseling
The NBAI program coordinator and a New Britain Health Department nurse meet with each family at the hospital for one to two hours initially; at a six-month follow-up appointment; and more frequently, if needed. A progress report is sent to the child's primary care provider and/or referring physician within two weeks of the first meeting.
Developing a personalized action plan
Before the family meets with the NBAI, the program coordinator works with the child's referring healthcare provider to develop a personalized asthma action plan for each patient. The plan uses traffic light colors green, yellow and red to decide which medications should be taken and if other action is needed, depending on how the child is feeling.
- Green: the child is doing well.
- Yellow: caution, the child should slow down and the healthcare provider should be called.
- Red: danger, medical care is needed right away.
The NBAI is supported by the American Savings Foundation; Greater Hartford Jaycees Foundation, Inc.; as well as the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain.
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