Engaging health care providers in coalition activities.

Health care providers play a key role in promoting and participating in asthma coalition activities. Barriers to participation include lack of time, concern about coalition effectiveness, and unfamiliarity with community-based approaches to health issues. Despite this, the Allies Against Asthma coalitions were successful at involving health care providers in leadership roles, on advisory committees, and as research and clinical experts. Successful engagement strategies included presentation of data illustrating need for improved asthma care, identification of clinicians who were involved in caring for children with uncontrolled asthma, and education regarding the added value of a coalition and benefits of participation. Despite barriers to participation, health care providers felt that their participation in asthma coalitions helped them to develop collaborative relationships with other agencies, increase their professional knowledge and skills with regard to asthma management, and improve access to priority populations.