Shared+Questions+Houston

=Shared Questions: Asthmatic Spaces Houston= = =

//**Accounting for Asthma**// What spatial units (city or county limits, U.S. States, regulatory regions) are in play in the space of concern? What spatial delineations offer analytic and comparative purchase?

How prevalent is asthma, and who is tracking asthma prevalence?

What are the costs of asthma to families affected by asthma, to government, to businesses (in lost work days, for example)? Who is producing this information?

How has asthma been covered by local media? Where have causes of and responsibility for asthma incidence been placed? What points of interventions have been highlighted?

What kinds of civic organizations (environmental groups, patients or caregivers groups) are involved in asthma surveillance and care?

What kind of research has been done on asthma-related issues in the region, and what are the findings?

What social, technical, political-economic, and biophysical features of the city (and its population) may contribute to asthma prevalence and patterns?
 * //Etiologies of Asthma//**

Are there notable occupational drivers of asthma in this area?

What is known about air quality and dynamics?

What can be learned about cumulative community risk using EPA databases and assessment tools?

How is asthma experienced by diversely situated people?
 * //Experiencing Asthma//**

How have people integrated “experiential” knowledge with other kinds of knowledge?

//Comparing Asthmatic Spaces// How is the space of concern conceived as a site of health, environment and politics? Is the space known as an asthma “hotspot,” for example? Is there a record of environmental injustice? Who are the players in this space?

How has asthma in the space of concern changed since 1985? Since 1945? Are there new organizations working on asthma? Are there new treatments for asthma? Are more doctors or medical centers caring for people with asthma? Are pharmaceutical companies involved in new ways? Have government agencies changed the way they think about and respond to asthma? How has concern about climate change shaped the way asthma is understood?
 * //Histories of Asthma//**

What forms of medical care are available (and not) to people suffering from asthma?
 * //Caring for Asthma//**

What forms of asthma education (in schools, for example) exist, and what is their orientation?

Who regulates environmental triggers of asthma, and what is their record and reputation?

What kinds of policy enforcement and change could change asthma incidence?
 * //Changing Asthmatic Spaces//**

What would improve asthma care and education, and how could this build on existing infrastructure?

How could The Asthma Files (and explanatory pluralism) be expressed and leveraged in this space? Type in the content of your page here.