Tucson-based University of Arizona Health Sciences and Denver-based National Jewish Health received an $8.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to improve asthma care for the Navajo Nation in Arizona.
The six-year grant will support a collaborative project between UAHS' Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center and NJH that will address health disparities in the Navajo Nation, which currently has an asthma rate double the general population.
The project will utilize NJH's Toolkit Program to teach caregivers to diagnose and manage asthma and UAHS's Asthma Program to enhance education and care coordination in public and private schools.
"This is by far the largest and most exciting project I’ve been involved with," said Bruce Bender, PhD, co-principal investigator, head of the Division of Pediatric Behavioral Health and co-director of the Center for Health Promotion at National Jewish Health. "Our overall goal is to build a lasting program that is sustainable for the people of the Navajo Nation."