In honor of May being Asthma Awareness Month, California Breathing will pilot a new resource, BREATHE for LIFE, for African American communities. In California, African Americans have 2-3 times higher rates of hospitalizations and visits to the emergency departments due to asthma than other racial/ethnic groups.  In response to these disparities, California Breathing, in partnership with Promotions West, held six focus groups across California in 2010 to ask African American community and church leaders how they would like to see our program address the problem of asthma in their communities. Focus groups were held in Oakland, Sacramento, East Palo Alto, San Mateo, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino.  Focus groups overwhelming suggested that California Breathing develop an asthma education and awareness toolkit  to be used primarily in faith-based settings, but  also appropriate for use in other community settings.  Promotions West developed a draft toolkit, BREATHE for LIFE, based on feedback from focus group participants and an active advisory committee of African American leaders.

In May 2011, California Breathing will pilot BREATHE for LIFE in a few faith-based settings.  Once the pilot is complete and the toolkit is modified, it will be available for download on this website. If you have questions about this project or are interested in participating in the advisory committee, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .