¶ … Health Department Proposal The scope of the project would be that of reducing the numbers of parents who smoke in the presence of their asthmatic children. This problem is increasing in the context in which more children are diagnosed with this condition and as it increases in severity when they are exposed to second hand smoking.

The project addresses the parents of children with asthma who smoke and it would be completed through educational efforts and by presenting these parents with the information necessary to raising awareness of the severity of the condition and the dangers of smoking for their children.

The risks of asthma and smoking

Asthma is often neglected as a severe illness and this is due to the fact that less people come to suffer severe problems pegged to asthma, and the incidence of deaths caused by asthma has dramatically reduced throughout the recent years. This is generally due to the advancement of medicine, which allows a better control of the disease.

It must nevertheless not be forgotten that asthma is a severe condition which is never cured, only managed. But while the management of asthma has evolved to a point at which patients can live a normal life under treatment, it is noted that more and more people are diagnosed with the respiratory condition. And the majority of these people are diagnosed with asthma in childhood. In the United States for instance, 22 million people have been diagnosed with asthma and 6 million of them are children (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 2011).

The increasing number of asthma diagnoses within the contemporaneous society is pegged to the evolution of the society and the increasing incidence of elements which are inhaled by the people and which trigger asthma attacks. These are vast and vary from one patient to the other, but generically include preservatives...

Children living in homes in which they are exposed to second hand smoking will experience a worsening of their breathing problems and will develop additional long-term breathing problems. In a more concise manner, asthmatic children exposed to second hand smoking face the following risks:
More severe and more frequent asthma flare-ups

The more pressing need to go to the emergency room with severe flare-ups

The need to go to the emergency room more frequently than asthmatic children living in non-smoking homes

The increased situations in which children miss school due to asthma related episodes

The need to take more asthma medicine than other asthma patients, and finally

The risk of developing asthma conditions which are more difficult to control, even with medicine (Kids Health, 2011).

3. Importance of the educational project

The outcomes of smoking for children with asthma trigger a series of chain reactions, such as a lower educational level due to absenteeism, a generally weaker health state, a significantly decreased quality of life, as well as increased spending at a federal and health department level. These in turn mean that it is essential for the Heath Department to invest in the education of parents with asthmatic children to stop exposing them to smoke as this is more damaging than they realize.

4. Proposed recommendations

As it has been mentioned in the previous sections, the scope of the project would be that of convincing parents to quit smoking altogether. In the cases when this is not possible, the aim is that of raising awareness and informing the parents, in order…