Newsletter - September 2018

Next Year's Conference!  

We are in the process of planning next year’s annual meeting June 6-9 in Buffalo, NY, and the 2019 Conference Planning Committee wants to hear from YOU! Please reply to admin@asthmaeducators.org with your ideas for conference sessions and topics!

Thinking about taking the AE-C exam?

Consider applying for the E. Ellis Scholarship. Take Your Skills to the Next Level! Become a Certified Asthma Educator! Created in memory of Elliot F. Ellis, MD, who was instrumental in supporting AAE during the creation of the organization in 1998, this scholarship is available to AAE members in good standing who are seeking to obtain initial certification as a certified asthma educator (AE-C) through the NAECB. 

            Scholarship Award amount:  $325 and provides a Mentor!

            Check out our web site with the information and application! 

            Take the next step!    Let us know how we can help!

             More information and the application: E. Ellis Scholarship Application page.

Consider Nominating Someone to Receive an AAE Asthma Advocate of the Month Award 

If you know anyone doing meaningful asthma work of any kind, you can nominate that person to receive this recognition. Each nominee will also receive a lapel pin as a token of our appreciation for his/her efforts. The recipient does not have to be an active member of the AAE. If you would like to nominate someone, please email srollins@oklahomaallergy.com with the person’s name, email address and a few sentences on why he/she deserves this recognition.

The AAE would like to congratulate the following for the Asthma Advocates of the Month award:

Oluwabukola Akinsiku, “Bukky” is a Pharm D, from Ft. Defiance Arizona with the Tsehootsooi Medical Center.  She is a staff pharmacist as well as the Tobacco Cessation Clinic Manager for their site.   Bukky is also a Lieutenant in the USPHS Commissioned Corps whose mission is to protect, promote, and advance the health and safety of our Nation. This was her first AAE Conference and she signed on as a volunteer for the Community Service Project at the Kids Carnival.  Without knowing what to anticipate, Bukky, reached out prior to the evening event, not only to offer her support, but to also provide transportation between the resort and the hospital site, as the last minute details were being ironed out.  She arrived early, patiently waited as the AAE staff completed assigned tasks, maneuvered the traffic, and safely transported members and equipment back to the resort at the end of the evening.   Bukky is a true advocate, not only for the children and families she works with in her community, but in caring for our volunteer members who travel in from the distance and for the AAE organization’s success in this year’s local community service project.  We thank Bukky for her support and service.

Leslie Zecena, MA, has also been nominated to receive an Asthma Educator of the Month award.   She started with the Northern California BreathMobile three years ago as an intern, having just graduated from an MA program at Contra Costa College.   She later returned as a full time Operations Manager for the SF East Bay location that serves children at 22 schools from North Richmond to Hayward, CA.  She trains new members and has been instrumental in training the team for the second BreathMobile in East Contra Costa County. She is wonderful with families and takes vital signs, performs Pulmonary Function Testing and gives asthma education to our families in English and Spanish.   The AAE would like to commend her valuable contributions to her community!

New Committees

Building on the enthusiasm generated at the meeting in Phoenix, the AAE Board of Directors has recently created two new committees which require membership to really become active.  These innovations are: Communications and Schools. 

The communications committee will be the umbrella group to include management of our website, Face Book page, Twitter account and newsletter.  This will allow us to focus on social media and the crucial task of informing and energizing the membership of AAE as to what opportunities are available for your involvement with the organization.  The addition of the Schools committee comes about because we realize that linkage with schools is a most critical way for us to affect health of young patients with asthma.  They spend a great deal of time at school, and parents often don’t recognize key symptoms or have competing priorities beyond their child’s symptoms (which they may have become accustomed to). By upgrading the “asthma IQ” of school personnel, we are likely to improve outcomes for our children.  In addition, we are developing a pool of asthma resources for athletic trainers in the hope that, going forward, the teams of asthma experts at schools will include not only nurses but also athletic trainers. 

If these areas are of interest to you, please let us know.   We need active involvement by members at large in all of our committees.

In addition, we are working now to identify the “right” community to host our annual conference in 2020.  The most important factor is the enthusiasm and activity of the local asthma community, as a major goal of each conference is to “showcase” the activities of the local asthma fanatics.  If you are remotely interested, we are most happy to discuss with you what is involved in hosting a conference.

Please contact us at admin@asthmaeducators.org if you are interested in participating or want more information on how to get involved!

Advocacy

Message from C M Bowman, MD AAE President 2018