Open Airways for Schools | Hawaii

The Open Airways For Schools® program is an innovative asthma education program designed to help children ages 8-11 learn to manage their asthma so they spend more time in the classroom and less time in the emergency room.

In Hawaii more than 30,000 children have asthma, a debilitating disease that causes shortness of breath and sometimes results in death. It is the leading cause of school absenteeism. Children with asthma who do not know how to take care of it are at serious risk. That's why Open Airways For Schools® was developed. It was tested in elementary schools nationwide and proven effective in reducing the number of asthma episodes and the duration of these episodes. It also helped improved academic performance in many cases.

What do our friends say about the program?

"These students seem more aware of their asthma triggers and what to do when they get an asthma episode.” - School Health Aide on OAS"."It’s an amazing feeling to be able to empower children to take better care of their health.” - Open Airways Instructor "Now I know more about asthma and how to take care of myself when I have trouble breathing.” - Student, age 10 "Since Open Airways has been introduced in our school, we’ve seen fewer absences and trips to the health aide’s office from our students with asthma.”

We all want to see our students succeed, but many children with asthma have a harder time doing well in school. The Open Airways For Schools® asthma education program has been shown to help these students better manage their asthma, miss fewer classes, and improve their academic performance. In addition to better grades, graduates of Open Airways For Schools® also demonstrate greater confidence in being able to take care of their health. If you would like to support your students with asthma, please contact the American Lung Association in Hawai'i Office at  808.537.5966 for more information on how your school can get involved!

Open Airways for Schools Plus Parents Presentation

This Parent Presentation is designed to provide parents, guardians and caregivers with information and strategies for managing their child's asthma. By teaching parents, guardians and caregivers more about their child's asthma, it will help to decrease loss of school days and increase management of asthma and hopefully result to better attendance and grades.

This 90 minute presentation will teach parents:

• The importance and proper use of medications How to handle medical emergencies Learn to identify "triggers" (environmental conditions or personal situations that initiate an asthma episode), many of which are found in the home
• The different signs on how to decide whether their child should stay at home or go to school

For more information or to schedule a presentation at your facility please contact Mondy Jamshidi.