Breathe New Hampshire

Geographic areas served: State of New Hampshire

Programs: Copd and other lung disease - breathe new hampshire works to prevent lung disease before it begins and to improve the lives of those impacted by lung disease in new hampshire. As the state's leading voluntary lung health organization, the organization provides education, training and resources on matters that impact breathing, such as air quality and tobacco use. The organization also raises awareness and understanding of common lung diseases, including asthma, copd (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and lung cancer, and helps people understand the connection between breathing and their environments. With assistance from an active volunteer network, breathe new hampshire hosts annual events for families impacted by lung disease, coordinates continuing medical education conferences for healthcare providers, conducts lung health screenings, provides information through a website and social media tools and empowers those impacted by lung disease through community-based projects and advocacy activities.

advocacy and public policy - through public policy work, awareness campaigns and media advocacy activities, breathe new hampshire works to prevent lung disease and provide a much-needed voice for those impacted by lung disease in new hampshire. The organization advocates for environments that ensure healthy breathing for all, provides information, resources and skill-based training to volunteers to build capacity as lung health advocates, partners with a broad range of stakeholders to promote and support evidence-based policies and legislation and engages those impacted by lung disease in planning and implementing public health improvement activities.

tobacco prevention & control - breathe new hampshire supports evidence-based initiatives aimed at reducing the burden of tobacco use in new hampshire. Breathe new hampshire is a resource for tobacco use prevention and cessation educational material. The organization works with partners and policy-makers to support tobacco control policies, to raise community awareness of tobacco use prevention and control resources, offering technical assistance to schools, businesses and community groups on developing tobacco free policies and conducting educational and training programs to help people live and stay tobacco-free. Breathe new hampshire also recognized the increased use of electronic cigarettes among youth and teens in recent years and developed a comprehensive education program focused on preventing youth nicotine addiction.

asthma - through its asthma initiatives, breathe new hampshire works to raise public understanding of the disease and increase access to asthma self-management resources and education among day care providers and school personnel to provide a healthy and safe indoor air environment for all children. Through programs such as asthma care for kids, the organization teaches child care providers, teachers, parents and coaches to better understand asthma and take steps to reduce environmental triggers. Breathe new hampshire is also a member of the new hampshire asthma collaborative, partnering to support a wide range of efforts and policies supportive of asthma control. The organization is a resource for asthma education and information in new hampshire. Clean air/community health/youth/research - through education, advocacy, research and partnerships, breathe new hampshire involves new hampshire citizens in matters that affect breathing, and ensure that those living with lung disease have the support and resources that they need. The organization utilizes evidence-based strategies such as community mobilization, policy change, social marketing and capacity-building to advance its critical mission. Breathe new hampshire promotes policies aimed at protecting the lung health of all citizens, conducts public awareness campaigns to educate the public about factors that affect breathing, supports scientific research though the mary fuller russell research funds, and builds the capacity of healthcare professionals, patients, youth, educators, and others to help prevent, eliminate and treat lung disease.