Helping children

Sunday, March 01, 2015 11:24 AM

Champ Camp: Colorado’s asthma action plan for children

by John Streit, MPH, RRT, Program Director, American Lung Association in Colorado

In Colorado, about one third of hospitalizations for children are due to asthma. For this reason the American Lung Association in Colorado (ALAC) established Champ Camp in 1979 as Colorado’s only summer camp for kids with asthma. At the camp, children ages 7-14 learn strategies to better manage their asthma and are empowered to better manage their asthma. Children are engaged in asthma education throughout the weeklong camp while being afforded the opportunity to participate in fun summer activities in the beautiful Colorado mountains. This camp is particularly unique because of its collaborative and year-round approach, which utilizes asthma management as a way to convene campers, families, schools, and the health care community, providing both education and recreation to young people and saving millions of intervention dollars. Over the past 35 years of its operation, Champ Camp and ALAC have reached close to 3,400 young people, and strive every year to reach even more Colorado children in need of this invaluable, unique and fun resource.

ALAC sees Champ Camp as an opportunity for children with asthma to take what their health care provider has taught them about managing their asthma and put it to practical use throughout the week. On a typical day of camp, these kids get the opportunity to participate in activities such as rock climbing, swimming, canoeing, and interactive asthma education challenges that are incorporated into the outdoor camp experience, promoting independence, leadership, and the importance of being physically active, despite having asthma. Many of the children that come to Champ Camp are from poor socioeconomic areas up and down the Front Range, and this may be the first time out of their communities and away from home. Campers benefit from the asthma management they learn, which reduces their doctor and ER visits, particularly beneficial since many of them rely on Medicaid, Colorado Health Plan or have no insurance. One of Champ Camp’s long standing volunteers, Ben Wilson, stated, “I witness kids learn from Champ Camp how to take control of their asthma and effectively live their lives. They learn to take control of their bodies, education, and choices, and take steps to learn and be proactive about their treatment and health. Once they are empowered with this knowledge, they realize they can do anything anyone else can do.”

ALAC makes this astounding feat possible through the many volunteers that keep coming back every year, often referred to as the Champ Camp family. Volunteers can be heard saying after their first year, “I’m hooked, and will definitely be back next year!” Others describe the experience as “life changing” or “rewarding,” citing that they got more back from the kids they served, paid in smiling faces. With much of the success of Champ Camp resting on the shoulders of volunteers, ALAC is always in need of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, respiratory therapists, and a host of other health care professionals. The time that these professionals donate is essential and makes it possible for asthma education to extend beyond the clinical environment.

When relating this experience to the camper outcomes, ALAC is often afforded success stories that point to the importance of this program. Consider the story of Elijah (9 years old) and his sister Shani (12 years old), who both attended Champ Camp for the first time two summers ago. Typical of many campers, Elijah and Shani are from a limited-income family, and neither of them had ever been to camp before. Sadly, this particular family also had experienced tremendous anguish four years prior, when they lost their eldest child (Elijah and Shani’s brother) to an asthma attack at age nine. With patience, determination and support, ALAC staff was able to develop the trust necessary for this family to send their other two children to Champ Camp. This past summer Elijah and Shani returned and brought their sister Naomi with them. These parents cannot stop raving about the impact Champ Camp has had on their children, who not only learned to manage their asthma better but also gained the confidence to play more actively with other kids, even though they have asthma, which they thought was a limitation to their physical activity. Because of Champ Camp, Elijah, Naomi and Shani can have a more positive adolescence, despite their asthma.

Champ Camp’s goals are to provide an innovative and motivating educational and recreational camp experience, increase knowledge about asthma, provide the skills and confidence to participate in physical activities without fear or trepidation, and offer resources to families, caregivers, and health care providers to support more systemic and year-round asthma management programs for these children. While the stories of success are abundant and realized with every year’s Champ Camp, ALAC is always in need of new volunteers who can help to ensure the success of Champ Camp, Colorado’s Asthma Action Plan in Action.