AIR Louisville

Citizen science documentary to feature AIR Louisville

8/16/2016

By Veronica Combs

Just as healthcare is moving far beyond the doctor’s office, science is branching out beyond labs and universities. AIR Louisville is one of many projects featured in this public TV series that comes out in spring 2017.
The Crowd and the Cloud is a 4-part public television series exploring citizen science in the age of mobile technology.
The series explains how regular folks — the Crowd — can work together — using the Cloud — to solve some of today’s largest challenges. C&C’s vision is that citizen science combined with big data and mobile technology can serve as an early warning systems for earthquakes, epidemics, floods, and climate change. The project is funded by the National Science Foundation.
Earlier this year, the AIR Louisville team talked with the filmmakers during a Google Hangout on Air. Meredith Barrett and Melissa Williams from Propeller Health, and I spoke with Darlene Cavalier , founder of SciStarter, about the why and the how of our community asthma program. Our conversation was 30 minutes, but you can watch the highlights in the Hangout Rewind video.
The four episodes include:

Episode 1: Even Big Data Starts Small
Episode 2: Viral vs. Virus
Episode 3: Feet In The Field, Eyes In The Sky
Episode 4: Citizens4Earth

Watch the trailer for the series below.

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Citizen science and digital health tools inspiring public health impact

4/29/2016

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By Kelly Henderson

Earlier this month in honor of National Public Health Week, President Obama issued a proclamation to recognize the value of public health workers and initiatives around the world. His statement highlighted a number of recent advances, including: expanding health coverage available to Americans through the Affordable Care Act, addressing the health impacts of climate change, and coordinating international efforts to mitigate infectious disease outbreaks. He spoke of the need for diverse stakeholders to contribute to public health efforts, calling on “all citizens, government agencies, private businesses, non-profit organizations, and other groups to join in activities and take action to improve the health of our Nation.”
Citizens have always played a particularly important role in promoting health in communities. With the growth of digital tools and smartphone ownership, citizens now have technology in their hands that allows them to collect health data, experiment, learn, and discover new insights and trends about their individual health, and at the same time expand the understanding of their community’s health. New technology such as mobile health apps, wearable devices, and medical sensors offer new ways to receive self-management support and education outside of the doctor’s office, track symptoms, and share health data. These tools have begun to transform how patients can participate as active citizen scientists to promote their own health and support larger public health efforts.
In a recent article in Sustain Magazine, we wrote about the AIR Louisville program, a community-based citizen science asthma collaborative that’s developing a digital asthma surveillance system in Louisville, Kentucky. Hundreds of local citizens have been equipped with Propeller sensors to collect real-time data on their inhaler use. They also have access to their data in digital platforms, which promote adherence to daily controller medications and provide personalized guidance and education. Citizens not only benefit from their own data collection to support self-management, but also can share their data to identify community level trends about the asthma burden and to inform local public health interventions and policy decision-making.
As key stakeholders in this project, local government leaders are using these citizen-generated data in anonymized format to identify hotspots of asthma across the region and to understand how environmental drivers are influencing these hotspots. They want to know where to focus their intervention efforts in order to have the most meaningful impact on the asthma burden in their community, asking questions like ‘How many asthma attacks could be avoided if we reduced emissions by 20% along this highway, or increased the tree canopy by 10% in this neighborhood?’ These citizen-generated data are playing an important role in expanding our understanding of social and environmental determinants of health and informing municipal decision-making to promote public health. Projects like AIR Louisville highlight what is possible when using digital tools to engage citizens, collect data, disseminate findings, and put those findings into meaningful next steps to support and strengthen public health.
As Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville, sees it:
“[AIR Louisville] is making public health resonate in our policy conversations. It’s citizen science. It’s about asthma, about air, but it’s also about rebuilding trust in government and that link to citizenship.”
Arming citizens with tools that not only provide valuable information for their own health, but also enable them to actively contribute to community health, strengthens the link between citizenship and policy action. This can be done at the local level, as in Louisville, and also at a national scale. Last year Propeller announced that it is building a National Asthma Risk Map for the United States using citizen-generated data, predictive spatial modeling techniques, and open government data resources, through which citizens can track how climate change may affect the frequency and severity of respiratory disease. This new source of real-time, passively collected data has the potential to revolutionize the way our country is able to conduct proactive prevention in our communities.
We are excited about the great work that is taking place with AIR Louisville program and we are thrilled about the insights we can learn from this work that will provide valuable information at the local level. We are only just beginning to see how citizen-driven health data collection can play a vital role in enhancing public health surveillance and help ensure the health and safety of all of our citizens. We look forward to sharing more about our journey taking action to support public health.

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Louisville falls to #4 on 2016 Spring Allergy Capitals List

4/28/2016

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By Veronica Combs

On this list, Louisville is headed in the right direction, if only slowly. In 2014, Louisville was #1 for spring allergies. In 2015, the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America crunched the numbers and ranked us #2. This year, thanks to less pollen in the air (hard to believe, but true), Louisville has dropped to #4.
According to an AAFA spokesperson, it appears Louisville “lost” a number of certified allergists over the last year. The number of board certified allergists affects a city’s ranking in the Capitals list. This change was probably due to retirement, but there has also been significant consolidation among hospitals and physician offices. This trend may have contributed to the change in the number of providers available. Also, the city experienced lower than anticipated pollen counts.
The factor that kept Louisville high in the chart was the continued high level of pharmaceutical, over-the-counter and behind-the-counter allergy medication use. The lower than anticipated pollen levels didn’t seem to make much of a difference in terms of treatment needs.

Jackson, MS is at the top of the list for the second year in a row due to higher than average pollen scores, higher than average medication usage, and availability of board-certified allergists in the area. The other cities on AFFA’s top 10 list are:
1.     Memphis, TN
2.     Syracuse, NY – up from #20
3.     Louisville, KY
4.     McAllen, TX
5.     Wichita, KS
6.     Oklahoma City, OK
7.     Providence, RI
8.     Knoxville, TN
9.     Buffalo, NY – up from #26
You can see the entire list here.

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What does this sensor do?

2/9/2016

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by Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville

The AIR Louisville program is centered around a small sensor that fits on top of an asthma inhaler. The sensor records the date and time when a person takes a dose from an inhaler. The device connects with an app to log the information. Having this record can help a person identify triggers and get better control of her symptoms.

Propeller Health makes the sensor and the app that powers AIR Louisville. Meredith Barrett is the company’s vice president for science and research. In this video clip, Meredith explains what the sensor does and how it helps people understand and control their asthma.

In June, we gathered several experts to talk about the goals of AIR Louisville. We wanted to answer these questions about the program:

Why is asthma so bad in Louisville?
How does the Propeller Health sensor work?
What do doctors think about this new tool?
Why would a person with asthma join the program?

You can watch the entire conversation here.

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Humana joins AIR Louisville, a Data-Driven Community Collaboration Designed to Reduce the Burden of Asthma

2/5/2016

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Feb 5, 2016 - Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) is the latest local employer to join AIR Louisville, a new approach to improving asthma that leverages sensors, big data, and community collaboration.

AIR Louisville is a grant-funded program designed to reduce the burden of asthma in Louisville, Kentucky, a city consistently ranked as one of the most challenging in the US for people with asthma. The program aligns to Humana’s local strategy to address respiratory illness among its employees and members.

Dr. Rae Godsey, DO, the corporate medical director for Humana, said that the bold goal is to improve the health of the communities the company serves 20% by 2020. About 8% of the US population has asthma versus 13% in Louisville. Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma are responsible for higher health care bills for employers and a lower quality of life for individuals.

“Our ambitious goal is only achievable if we work together with organizations like AIR Louisville,” Dr. Godsey said. “Our research indicated that asthma, allergies, smoking and other respiratory illnesses are significant barriers to Kentucky’s health. AIR Louisville is helping us develop and implement collaborative strategies to remove these barriers and assist us all in breathing easier.”

The AIR Louisville program is powered by Propeller Health, the Institute for Healthy Air, Water and Soil, the city of Louisville, and a coalition of seven employers, three healthcare providers, a health plan and three advocacy groups. The program uses Propeller’s smart inhalers to help residents learn more about their asthma and reduce their symptoms. It also provides city leaders with valuable public health information so they can make more informed decisions about how to keep the air quality across the metro area clean enough to prevent asthma attacks.

Propeller Health provides an FDA-cleared digital health platform including inhaler sensors that record the time and location of medication use. It also engages patients through a mobile app and feedback in order to help reduce the frequency of asthma symptoms and improve outcomes.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded AIR Louisville through a grant to the Institute for Healthy Air, Water and Soil. This nonprofit is bringing together employers, doctors, insurance companies and advocacy groups to support a new solution for Louisville’s asthma problem.

“The first person who joined our program said, ‘I want to live here, I want to be happy here, and I want to be healthy here.’ The AIR Louisville team is working to make asthma less of a burden for everyone in Louisville,” said Veronica Combs, director of community engagement for AIR Louisville.

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2015 By The Numbers

2/5/2016

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by Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville
Here is an update on what the AIR Louisville team has accomplished as well as what we have planned for 2016.
Our focus was awareness and enrollment during the first year of our community asthma program. I recently counted up all the work we did around awareness and came up with these stats:

35 meetings with potential partners
24 events, ranging from the Downtown Rotary Club to a Semple Elementary Family event to Humana’s Bold Moves Town Hall
1 Google Hangout with Dr. Jim Sublett from Family Allergy and Asthma, Mike Tringale from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Christine Vaughan who is patient in the program, and Dr. Meredith Barrett Vice President of Science and Research at Propeller Health, and Veronica Combs Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville
36 mentions in the press, including The Washington Post, PBS NewsHour Weekend, The Courier-Journal and MobiHealthNews
23 blog posts
1,013 likes on the AIR Louisville Facebook page

For more details on all these items, check out this look back at AIR Louisville in 2015.
Plans for 2016
The best news I have to share is from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In November, I looked at the list of current partners and potential partners. To enroll all the companies and organizations that wanted to join our community asthma program, we needed more time.
I went back to our funder and proposed an extension and a slightly larger budget. The Foundation said yes. Now AIR Louisville enrollment will continue through March 2016 and we'll have until June 2017 to complete our tracking and analysis.
I want to thank Paul Tarini and Oktawia Wojcik for considering this request and working to get approval for it. The Foundation has been a wonderful partner throughout this program, providing all the support we have needed to make it a success.
In February, we will be sharing some early data and analysis from our work. The AIR Louisville team will be meeting with Mayor Fischer, public health officials, and many of our partners. Our first advisory board meeting will be in March - email me if you'd like to join that group. We'll also be hosting a public event in March. This will be a chance for people participating in the asthma program to connect with each other and with the AIR Louisville team.

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Progress Report: Three new partners for community asthma program

10/29/2015

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By Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville

Later that week I'll be talking about AIR Louisville at the Louisville Digital Association’s monthly meeting. If you've never been to an LDA meeting, mark your calendar for Thursday, Nov. 12 at 6 pm. This informal, high energy group always attracts an interesting crowd of designers, entrepreneurs, engineers and writers. The meeting will be at the PriceWeber office at 10701 Shelbyville Road.

I'm proud to announce that Seven Counties and WHAS 11 are our two newest partners. These two Louisville institutions will be working with the AIR Louisville team to enroll employees in our community asthma program. I want to thank Linda Danna at WHAS 11 and Becky Mitchell and Dan Smith at Seven Counties for their enthusiasm for our work and for the votes of support.

We have a new partner in the medical community as well. Doctors and nurses at the University of Louisville pediatric clinics will be enrolling some of the youngest asthma patients in our community in AIR Louisville. Thanks to Dr. Gil Liu and Natalie Natalie Pasquenza, BSN,RN,CCRC at the University of Louisville who worked to get this project approved.

We had our first advisory board meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 21. We reviewed the goals for the group, discussed enrollment tactics and watched the PBS NewsHour Weekend story about our program. Our next meeting will be in March 2016.

If you'd like to learn more about the program, you'll have 3 chances in November. I will be on Crescent Hill Radio on Monday, Nov. 9 from 4 - 6. Tune in to WHCQ 100.9 FM to hear my conversation with Tara Bassett. You can listen on your drive home or tune in to the live stream online.

Later that evening, I'll be attending "Prevailing Winds," an original play by the Looking for Lilith theater company. The play is about air quality to Rubbertown and its surrounding communities, as well as how race and class have played into the Louisville community's dialogue and action around these issues. There will be a panel discussion after the performance. I'll be representing the Institute and talking about our air quality work.

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AIR Louisville in the news

9/21/2015

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We have had great publicity for AIR Louisville from the local press as well as some national newspaper and magazines. We broke into national television last week with PBS Newshour Weekend.

Reporter Christopher Booker and producer Connie Kargbo were in Kentucky to cover the revival of hemp production in the state. They added AIR Louisville to their reporting agenda as well.

Booker interviewed Mayor Greg Fischer and Ted Smith from city government as well as two women who are participating in the asthma program. Christine Vaughan works at Insider Louisville and was one of the first people to join AIR Louisville. Dawn Sirek is new to the program. She is an emergency room nurse at Kosair Children's Hospital and developed asthma after contracting viral pneumonia as an adult. Dawn said that learning to live with asthma has changed her daily life. "I had never paid attention to those air quality alerts before, but now I try to stay away from downtown on those days," Dawn said. The unhealthy air on high ozone days makes it hard for her to breathe.

Dawn also said that medication reminders also help her manage her asthma. The Propeller Health system includes a sensor that fits on top of an asthma inhaler and an app. The app connects with the sensor to record when and where a person takes a dose of medicine. Participants also can use the app to set reminders to take daily doses of maintenance medicine.

"My husband pays more attention to my symptoms now, he didn't understand before," Dawn said. "Now my phone dings every morning at 9 am and 9 pm, so it's been in our conversation more."

The Newshour story will be broadcast in October. We'll let you know when it appears.

Thanks to the Community Foundation of Louisville for letting us use their board room for the interviews. We also appreciate Christine and Dawn taking the time to talk about their experience with our community asthma program.

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Mayor Fischer: Asthma program is making Louisville a stronger city

8/13/2015

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by Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville

In addition to the support of asthma experts, the team at AIR Louisville is very proud to receive a vote of confidence from the mayor of Louisville.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer spoke at TEDxPennsylvaniaAvenue in July. The event was designed to give several of the world's most innovative thinkers and doers the opportunity to share their ideas with bipartisan leaders in our nation's capital. The 24 speakers covered everything from tracking sharks to the impact of Head Start to the power of data. In his talk- Compassion and Data Are Transforming My City- the Mayor explained why the idea of compassion has been central to his administration.

He named lifelong learning, health and compassion as the values of his administration. Skip to the 2:20 minute mark to see how he responded to worries that calling out compassion would make him seem weak.

Mayor Fischer shared examples of how he is incorporating each value into the daily work at City Hall, and called out AIR Louisville as an example of how to engage citizens in social innovations. He described the 2013 pilot program in his speech - we're not up to 600 people in the current program yet. Mayor Fischer said the community asthma program was a way to build the social muscles of Louisville, explaining that it's easier for a community to cope with tragedy and difficult times when citizens and city leaders have a history of working together. You can skip to the 6:30 minute mark to hear what the Mayor has to say about AIR Louisville, but it's worth watching his entire speech.

It takes time, effort, courage and patience to change the health of a community. Mayor Fischer is proving this can be done.

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AIR Louisville gets a shout out from two asthma doctors

8/4/2015

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by Veronica Combs, Director of Community Engagement, AIR Louisville

What makes a healthy city? As part of the Greater Louisville Project, writers in The Courier Journal's editorial pages have been debating this question for the last several weeks. Tech leaders, physicians, city officials, and entrepreneurs have covered everything from food deserts to walkable streets to health scores as potential solutions to the health problems many Louisvillians face.

AIR Louisville was called out twice as an innovative approach to helping people with asthma in particular and the health of all citizens in metro Louisville in general. Two doctors who have been great supporters of our program mentioned our community asthma program in their columns.

Dr. Jim Sublett is the co-founder and managing partner of Family Allergy and Asthma. His practice was one of the launch partners for our community asthma program. He and his team are enrolling patients in the program. In addition to helping patients manage their symptoms, he is interested in improving indoor air quality and boosting awareness of air quality in general. Here is what he had to say in his op-ed:

"Louisville is on the forefront of addressing such issues through AIR Louisville, a coalition of various stakeholders, that have come together to identify triggers and determine when and why asthma flares occur. Partners include the city of Louisville and Mayor's office, Propeller Health, the Institute for Healthy Air, Water, and Soil, the Louisville Metro Public Health and Wellness department, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, employer partners such as Brown-Forman, local health plans such as Passport Health Plan, and allergy & asthma specialists at Family Allergy & Asthma. By working together, we can make a difference."

In his column, Dr. Gil Liu mentioned AIR Louisville as one of several innovative projects focused on improving health in Louisville:

"Louisville continues to lead the country in innovation with this year's launch of the Air Louisville project. Air Louisville connects city-wide air monitoring with advanced sensors that signal when and where individual asthma patients are taking their medications. These partnerships and technologic advances represent creative, strong approaches to inform the public about asthma hotspots and engage the community in cleansing these environments."

Dr. Liu is the director for general pediatrics at the University of Louisville. He is leading KPATCH - the Kentucky Pediatric Alliance for Transforming Children's Healthcare. Doctors and nurses from Family Health Centers, Norton Healthcare, and Louisville Metro Health and Wellness meet monthly to identify best practices for improving asthma care. Dr. Liu has been working with AIR Louisville team to establish a partnership that will allow patients from University of Louisville clinics to join our program.

The AIR Louisville team is grateful to have the support of doctors dedicated to making life easier for people with asthma. It takes time, effort, courage and patience to change the healthcare system. Both Dr. Sublett and Dr. Liu are proving this can be done.

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<<Previous

Citizen science documentary to feature AIR Louisville

Citizen science and digital health tools inspiring public health impact

Louisville falls to #4 on 2016 Spring Allergy Capitals List

What does this sensor do?

Humana joins AIR Louisville, a Data-Driven Community Collaboration Designed to Reduce the Burden of Asthma

2015 By The Numbers

Progress Report: Three new partners for community asthma program

AIR Louisville in the news

Mayor Fischer: Asthma program is making Louisville a stronger city

AIR Louisville gets a shout out from two asthma doctors

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