Children's Health System of Texas - The Health and Wellness Alliance for Children

Overview

Children’s Health System of Texas formed the Health and Wellness Alliance for Children (the Alliance) in early 2013 after a “listening” tour of local organizations serving children and families revealed a lack of sustained impact due to the fragmented nature of individual social service organizations. These findings, combined with hard data, clearly pointed to the prevalence of asthma as the most significant chronic condition presenting in area children. It impacted more than 60,000 children in Dallas County alone, creating an estimated downstream cost to county taxpayers of more than $60 million annually. The Alliance focused its efforts on reducing the burden of this condition for children, knowing that the approach must involve improving the non-medical determinants of health as well as access to and delivery of clinical care. Thus, Alliance leaders evaluated the physical environment triggers that exacerbate asthma and studied how to better equip children, families, and other caregivers in self-management of the condition. Other significant work involved standardizing and increasing the use of asthma action plans among primary care physicians, children and families, and school nurses. Children’s Health provides the backbone staff support for the Alliance and in 2014 assumed responsibility for the community-wide healthy weight initiative begun by the Dallas Regional Chamber and the United Way.

Impact

As a result of cross-sector collaboration, the Alliance spearheaded the adoption of new housing standards for the city of Dallas that protect children with asthma from common triggers (mold, extreme temperatures, and cockroaches). Changes to the city’s code were an essential step in changing the physical environments for children with asthma, and represented a major step forward in moving the existing code apparatus in a positive direction for family well-being. For that work, the Alliance has received commendations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Dallas, and the National Center for Healthy Housing. The Alliance work with asthma action plans, school nurses, providers, and families, coupled with a new mobile asthma app and other initiatives within the Children’s Health system, contributed to a dramatic 49 percent reduction in visits to the Children’s Health emergency department for asthma over a three-year period. Since Children’s Health is the safety-net provider for millions of regional children that are uninsured and underinsured, Alliance leaders believe that they have reached the neediest children in the community with these sustainable solutions.

Lessons Learned

The inclusion of uncommon partners in the Alliance’s work is paramount for developing and implementing successful strategies. Aligning local data sets with national research and academic studies has been a difficult process, and Alliance leaders have learned the importance of validating data to ensure it is truly representative of the community.

Future Goals

The asthma work groups are continuing to advance their specific strategies. The healthy weight initiative is working to scale the successful “Corner Store” pilot project across Dallas, applying a proven template from the Philadelphia Food Trust. Program leaders have also launched an Alliance chapter in Collin County, using their process model on family well-being and human­centered design to uncover areas of needed focus there. Finally, the Alliance is evaluating a place-based, rather than a specific health condition, approach to its work.

Contact: Peter Roberts
President, Population Health & Insurance Services
Telephone: 214-456-9091
Email: peter.roberts@childrens.com