Category: Featured, Healthy Communities, Uncategorized
The Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Care Access, branded as Well-Ahead Louisiana, is on a mission to help ease the burden of asthma in Louisiana.
According to America’s Health Rankings 2025, Louisiana’s adult asthma prevalence rose from 9.7% in 2021 to 10.1% in 2024. With an underserved parish like Tensas, whose nearest hospital is 20 miles away, asthma-related medical emergencies and medical emergencies in general could put residents at risk.
Well-Ahead Louisiana’s Asthma Control Program (ACP) has identified this as a major concern, making Tensas one of its three target parishes, in addition to East Carroll and Madison.
In an effort to increase enrollment in the Asthma Control Program, on March 13, 2026, Well-Ahead Louisiana Statewide Nurse Consultant, Tanya Cobb, attended the Tensas Health and Fitness Fair, sponsored by Humana Healthy Horizons, located at 205 Plank Rd., St. Joseph, Louisiana.
“I was invited by Mollie Cruse, who is the Community Health Worker for Region 8. She’s actually housed in Ouachita Parish, but was raised in Tensas, so she’s always been very passionate about that community of people because she knows about the access issues they have,” Cobb said.
Available to Louisiana residents at no cost, regardless of age or insurance, Well-Ahead’s Asthma Control Program aims to gain partnerships with schools, health care facilities, community-based organizations, and managed care organizations (MCOs) to help improve the management of asthma across Louisiana—so when it comes to outreach, events like the Tensas Health Fair makes a big difference in smaller, underserved parishes.
“What we do is assess the status of your asthma, whether it is controlled or not, provide asthma education sessions, environmental assessments, and look at your medications and access to care—whether it is a primary care physician, an allergist, or a pulmonologist,” said Cobb. “A lot of what we do is try to make sure you stay out of the emergency room, the hospital room, and the ICU. So we look at where you are today and see what we can do to link you to the services you need to improve the control of your asthma.”
Nearly 50 residents were in attendance, up from the 35 who signed the initial intake form. Cobb credits the increased turnout to the day and time of the event, stating, “They’ve never done it on a Friday or Saturday before. They usually do it on other days of the week, and their turnout would be 17, at the most, or six.”
Another factor contributing to the positive turnout was location. Two mobile units, offering mammograms, colorectal screenings, and several other cancer screenings—stationed in the middle of St. Joseph’s town square area made midday health screenings at no cost even more convenient.
“I think the fact that it was on a Friday, more of the older people get out and maybe do their grocery shopping and things like that, and they just happened to see us. When they came out, they saw us because it’s a very small town, so they sort of just dropped in,” said Cobb.
Following the event, Cobb was excited to walk away with four pediatric and eight adult referrals, which she planned to contact for enrollment.
Cobb states that although the numbers seem small in comparison, for Tensas Parish, it’s significant.
“We do have a provider in that parish that is already referring patients to us. She’s already referred several of her patients. There are actually three providers in that parish, so I’ve reached out to all of them, and they have expressed an interest in referring,” Cobb said.
On a mission to continue to spread awareness about enrollment opportunities, the program plans to send out asthma packets to all of the WellSpot Designations within its three targeted parishes.
“I feel like sometimes we’re the best kept secret here at Well-Ahead, so we’re always trying to get the word out,” stated Cobb.
Expanding Asthma Care Connections
In addition to several other community outreach events, Well-Ahead’s Asthma Control Program was recently invited to participate in the Pediatric Jambalaya in Lafayette, Louisiana, as an exhibitor through its partnership with Arise Pediatric Health Advocacy, LLC, to promote to health care professionals, practitioners, and providers in attendance.
Events like this help the program develop partnerships with schools, health care facilities, community-based and managed-care organizations, to strengthen and improve statewide asthma interventions.
Certified Asthma Educator for Arise Pediatric, Ashley Conner, CCRN, attended the event on behalf of Well-Ahead, stating, “Statewide partnerships are critical to implement strategies that will reduce the burden of asthma, such as education on self-management, linkages and coordination of care across settings, reducing environmental triggers, creating asthma-friendly work environments, and extinguishing smoking and secondhand smoke.”
One highlight of the event was the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s (UL) First Semester Senior Coordinator Jeanne Manuel’s invitation to Well-Ahead’s Asthma Control program to speak with each class of UL nursing students each semester.
Get Started Today
To sign up for Well-Ahead Louisiana’s Asthma Control Program, there are a few options.
According to Well-Ahead’s Research for Emerging Development & Innovation (REDI) Division Health Improvement Manager, Alisha Jones, the program accepts participants through both community outreach engagement events and provider referrals.
If referred by a provider, patients must complete a referral form and consent form. During community engagement events, the program typically targets vendors at family-oriented/school-aged events to increase enrollment.
“There is also a self-enrollment option through the CareHalo app platform. If the patient is already enrolled in one of the other Well-Ahead programs, Diabetes, Heart Disease, WISEWOMAN, participants can elect the option in the CareHalo app to be considered for the Asthma Control Program,” Jones said. “From there, our Asthma Control Rep or Nurse Consultant contacts them for further enrollment steps.”
The program typically seeks to increase enrollment through vendors, or exhibitors, at family-oriented community engagement events, as well as events with health care professionals and schools to gain provider or educator referrals for participation.
More information on Well-Ahead Louisiana’s Asthma Control Program can be found here.
