The National Environmental Education Foundation Partners with CDC to Launch Free Online Certification Course for Pediatric Asthma Management


“We believe that it is imperative for all pediatric healthcare providers to be knowledgeable and comfortable integrating the environmental management of pediatric asthma into their healthcare practice. ” Dr. Lisa de Ybarrondo, Northwest Assistant Ministries Children’s Clinic

The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) is proud to announce the launch of its “Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Healthcare Providers” free online certification course.

Part of NEEF’s Pediatric Asthma Initiative, this accredited eLearning program was developed to help pediatric healthcare providers and clinicians manage environmental asthma triggers and intervention strategies. The online course makes use of case studies, guided exercise, and open dialogue to develop the skills required to identify environmental triggers and implement evidence-based environmental interventions for asthma.

By completing this course, healthcare providers, patients, parents, and caregivers will have the knowledge needed to work together to achieve successful asthma management for children and their caregivers.

“Asthma is considered the most common chronic medical condition in pediatrics. It adversely affects the health and the quality of a child’s life, with increased cost, school days missed, and increased severity of symptoms if not well controlled,” said Dr. Lisa de Ybarrondo, medical director at Northwest Assistant Ministries Children’s Clinic Department of Pediatrics in Houston, Texas, and a NEEF Asthma Faculty Champion. “We believe that it is imperative for all pediatric healthcare providers to be knowledgeable and comfortable integrating the environmental management of pediatric asthma into their healthcare practice.” 

For over 10 years, NEEF has offered free online tools and trained more than 16,000 professionals through its network of “Asthma Faculty Champions”—practicing pediatric physicians with extensive experience who conduct in-person learning sessions. Healthcare providers completing the Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Healthcare Providers online course will receive NEEF’s Asthma Faculty Champion designation.

Professionals completing the course will also be eligible for continuing education units (CEUs) through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Continuing Education certificate program.

“Offering continuing education units will further establish NEEF as an expert in the field of environmental health and increase awareness of the body of evidence that implicates environmental factors in chronic disease progression,” said Vernessa Perry, Health & Wellness program director at NEEF.

The number of education units earned varies depending on each enrollee’s occupation:

  • CME (Physicians) 1.75
  • Certificate of Participation (Non-Physicians) 1.75
  • CEU (Other Professionals) 0.2
  • CECH (Certified Health Education Specialists) 1.5
  • CPH (Certified Public Health Professionals) 2.0

The Environmental Management of Pediatric Asthma: Guidelines for Healthcare Providers eLearning course integrates the CDC’s technical package known as EXHALE, which is comprised of six evidence-based strategies selected for their potential of having the greatest collective impact on controlling asthma. Implementing the knowledge and strategies provided in this course will help to reduce the burden of asthma and help advance CDC’s CCARE (Controlling Childhood Asthma Reducing Emergencies) goal of preventing 500,000 hospitalizations and emergency department visits among children with asthma.

To register for this free online course, visit our website.

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