Sustainable Living - Programme to Increase Asthma Educators throughout Hawaii

Sustainable Living



The American Lung Association in Hawaii has announced the launch of a virtual Asthma Educator Institute™ to increase the number of Certified Asthma Educators in the state. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 106,000 Hawaii residents live with asthma, and about one third of those are children. Every year, about 5,000 people in Hawaii visit the emergency room due to asthma and another 1,500 are hospitalised.

The virtual Asthma Educator Institute™ (AEI) is a three half-day preparatory course for individuals that want to implement asthma guidelines-based care and those qualified to take the National Asthma Educator Certification Board examination. The Institute will take place Aug 31, Sep 1, and 3, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. HST.

“There simply are not enough certified asthma educators in Hawaii to handle the number of residents who suffer from this serious disease – especially in the Native Hawaiian community,” said Nicolle Mannion, Health Promotions Specialist for the American Lung Association in Hawaii. “Our virtual Asthma Educator Institute™ seeks to increase the number of asthma educators to become certified experts. 5 out of the 13 speakers for this national event will be from Hawaii. We are fortunate to have highly respected health professionals addressing asthma in Hawaii. These efforts will be increased with additional support from Certified Asthma Educators to provide critical information on an illness that relies heavily on self-management.”

The AEI is a professional education course that targets frontline healthcare professionals, such as nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, physicians, physician assistants, pharmacists, other licensed or credentialed healthcare professionals, and educators with 1000+ direct hours of asthma education eligible to sit for the national asthma certification exam. The upcoming AEI will be held virtually in a live-stream format.

Trainers for this course are from the Pacific West, including several respiratory professionals from Hawaii. Continuing education credits will be available for licensed professionals. A limited amount of registration scholarships are currently available for Hawaii professionals working with youth.

Featured speakers from Hawaii include - 

Dr. Edward Fong, MD

    Kapiolani Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii

Kaberi Mozumder, MSN, APRN- Rx, PPCNP-BC

    Hawaii Keiki Nurse, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

    University of Hawaii at Manoa – School of Nursing, Honolulu, HI

Dr. Chunrong Lin, MD

    The Queen’s Medical Center – West Oahu, Sullivan Care Centre

Ron Sanderson DrPH, MEd, RRT, RPFT, AE-C

    Respiratory Center of Hawaii, Owner

    Adventist Health Castle, Director of Respiratory Care and Pulmonary Function Lab (retired)

Dr. Brian Wu, MD

    Kapiolani Hospital, Honolulu, HI

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