February 2023 - The Breathing Association

New Programs for 2023

We’re excited to share our four new programs for 2023: At Home For Seniors, Quit For Good, Elevating New Moms and Kick The Nic.

At Home for Seniors is a new program that improves the health of seniors with conditions like asthma, COPD and tobacco cessation. This program helps reduces barriers to care by bringing education, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up services directly to their homes. For more information on this program call 614-457-4570 or click here to learn more.

Quit For Good is a free workplace tobacco cessation program that encourages employees to quit smoking. This evidence-based program gets results by combining best practices, such as group education and counseling, with individual follow up to help employees quit for good. For more information on this program, click here to learn more.

Elevating New Moms is a is a groundbreaking new initiative that aims to increase infant vitality and improve the health of new moms through smoking cessation programming. Participants receive counseling and both mom and infant receive basic health screenings throughout the program. For more information on this program, click here to learn more.

Kick the Nic is an interactive program that engages Central Ohio students and educates them about the dangers of nicotine use and the importance of prevention by addressing the health effects of nicotine use, the topic of peer pressure and encouraging parents and caregivers to continue the messaging at home. For more information on this program, click here to learn more.

admin2023-03-28T14:24:02-04:00February 24th, 2023|Uncategorized|

Postpartum Psychosis: Education, Screening, and Treatment for Maternal and Infant Vitality

This month, we want to spotlight a perinatal mental health complication that is often misunderstood and has recently received media attention. Perinatal or postpartum psychosis is a mental health condition that occurs during pregnancy and the first year following birth. This condition is deemed a mental health emergency due to the risk for harm to self and others, including infants and children. Timely screening and treatment are critical for optimal recovery.

Postpartum psychosis is characterized by the mom, pregnant woman, or birthing person losing touch with reality. Specifically, they may experience auditory or visual hallucinations where they hear or see things others do not see or hear. They may also experience delusions, characterized by strange or inaccurate beliefs, which can be associated with perinatal suicide and infanticide. Other symptoms include cognitive impairment, irritability, difficulty sleeping, paranoia, mood swings, and persistent thoughts about death or lack of safety¹.

Approximately 1-2 moms or birthing people per 1,000 births experience postpartum psychosis². Those who have been diagnosed with or have unmanaged symptoms of bipolar disorder may be at greater risk for this perinatal mental health complication. Although psychosis is a serious mental health condition, it can be treated. Treatment typically includes hospitalization, medication, and therapy. For those who experience postpartum psychosis to receive necessary treatment, there is a need for health care providers and birthworkers to receive adequate training on the breadth of perinatal mental health complications, as well as screening and referral processes. Additionally, there is a need for parents and family members to receive accurate education about all perinatal mental health complications and available resources. We have included resources for providers and families in this newsletter.

Resources:

admin2023-03-28T14:29:12-04:00February 22nd, 2023|Dr. Alfred, Uncategorized|

Our Charity Care Brings Health Equity

The patients we see every day in our Lung Health Clinic and out in the community in our Mobile Medical Unit receive the care and attention that they need but may not have access to treatment due to cost or accessibility.

At no cost to them, our patients get screenings, vaccinations, education on how to improve their breathing, smoking cessation tools and much more.

But we could do much more.

A major roadblock we face in our charity care is the ability to perform more detailed screenings. To more precisely screen for infections such as tuberculosis, pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases and conditions, we need a mobile X-Ray machine. This would give us the ability to see concerning spots in patients’ lungs to determine the best next steps for care. With a mobile X-Ray machine, that care can go anywhere we are, either in the community or in our own clinic.

For more information on how our patients could better be served if The Breathing Association had a mobile Xray machine, please click here to hear from Dr. Iyaad Hasan, DNP, MBA, APRN

Our charity care is 100% funded by people like you. Maybe you or someone you care for have been touched by a lung health condition, or you know someone who has benefited from charity care services. No matter your “why” we can all agree that providing much needed medical services to our growing vulnerable communities is much needed. This fiscal year we are on track to spend approximately $80,000 to provide charity care, have raised $47,000 so far. We are almost there. Would you help us bridge the gap in charity care?

Click Here to Donate Today

Together, we can care for every breath our community takes.

admin2023-03-28T14:32:36-04:00February 17th, 2023|Uncategorized|

Why the need is great: Franklin County reports higher rates of disease in every demographic group compared to the rest of Ohio

While rates of tuberculosis have remained constant overall, rates of the disease in every demographic group are higher in Franklin County as compared to Ohio. In fact, the tuberculosis is four times higher in Franklin County males and two times higher in Franklin County African American communities than in Ohio.

Interestingly, Franklin County residents ages 65 years and older have a higher percentage report having had a pneumonia vaccination than average Ohioans, yet Pneumonia is still one of the top 10 causes of admission for Franklin County hospitals. A mobile X-Ray Machine will help screen, diagnosis, and provide treatment to more individuals in their own communities.

2021 TB Risk Assessment for Franklin County, Ohio

2021 Ohio TB Cases

– Iyaad Hasan DNP, MBA, APRN

Chief Operations Officer / VP of Operations

admin2023-03-28T15:30:17-04:00February 10th, 2023|Uncategorized|

How Does Ohio Measure Up?

We need to do annual check-ups with our family physicians, don’t we? They can tell us so many things. In the last several weeks, there have been two great annual tobacco “check-ups” that can certainly tell us a lot about the state of Ohio. Let’s take a look. The first is the “Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Broken Promises To Our Children”. This report highlights that Ohio ranks 31^st in its spending on tobacco prevention and cessation. This is only a little over 11% of what the CDC recommended spending amount is. The state of Ohio brings in $1.2 billion in tobacco revenue and the tobacco industry spends almost $430 million to market its product in Ohio. So, what is the real cost to our state? Residents’ state and federal tax burden from smoking-caused expenditures is $1,186 per household. Tobacco killed 20,200 Ohio citizens last year. This isn’t a very good check-up.

Let’s now turn to the American Lung Association “State of Tobacco Control Grade Card”. When I was a child, my teacher handed my grade card to me, and I then handed it to my parents. Here are Ohio’s grades: Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: F, Smokefree Air: A, Tobacco Taxes: F, Access to Cessation Services: C, Flavored Tobacco Products: F. That’s 3F’s, 1C, 1A. They gave Ohio an overall grade of F. The ALA’s Ohio annual healthcare cost due to smoking is $5,647,310,236. And the last number I will share is the high school tobacco use rate. It is 36.70%. That is staggering.

What do we do with a diagnosis like this? Our primary care physician would certainly voice their concern about the state of our condition. We must use our voice and share our concern about the condition of the health of Ohio. We need to let our local elected officials know our concerns and most importantly, let our state and federal elected officials know these outcomes are not acceptable. We have the right and responsibility to hold them accountable. Ohio’s health will not improve if we simply hope for better outcomes.

admin2023-03-28T15:18:18-04:00February 6th, 2023|Bruce Barcelo, Uncategorized|