Field Placement: Venice Family Clinic, Pediatric Asthma Home CARE/CASA Program
Location: Venice, CA
Preceptor: Anne Staunton
Student Name: Zoë Foster
Year: 2004

Founded in 1970, the Venice Family Clinic (VFC) has become the largest free health clinic in the United States. The mission of VFC is to improve the health of people and communities through accessible, quality care. Since its inception, VFC has grown from a small volunteer service in Venice, CA. to a 501 (c) (3) organization that provides primary health care, support services, and outreach programs to approximately 19,000 uninsured, low-income and homeless patients, in over 95,000 visits annually. Currently, VFC maintains seven facilities and serves the communities of Venice, Santa Monica, Culver City, Palms, Marina Del Ray, Westchester, and west Los Angeles.

During the summer of 2004, I worked with Dr. Tricia Barreto, Clinical Instructor—Department of Pediatrics at UCLA, and Anne Staunton, head of Program Development and Evaluation at VFC, on a pilot study called the Pediatric Asthma Home CARE/CASA Program. Designed by, and funded through VFC, the program utilizes a home visitation model to improve the quality of asthma care for low-income, homeless, and uninsured VFC patents and individuals living in the VFC catchment area. The necessity of such a program is clear, as asthma is the most common childhood illness and leading cause of disability in children nationwide. Moreover, research shows that, in Los Angeles, poor children living in inner cities are more likely to be hospitalized and receive expensive, routine care for asthma in emergency departments, rather than at affordable or free health clinics.

I began my internship recruiting participants through local health fairs, meetings for provider and health educators, and by posting fliers about the program at various community organizations in the VFC catchment area. I created a home visit protocol, which includes a comprehensive intake form that elicits such things as the child’s medical history, a medication inventory, and an assessment of their asthma severity. I participated in two training classes at the Center for Nonprofit Management. One class focused on grant writing and the other provided an introduction to the MS Access computer program, which is used for research and data analysis. I subsequently designed the MS Access database for our program. In addition to the classes listed above, I received asthma-related training about asthma medications and their usages, as well as on the procedures for conducting effective home visitations. Finally, I was responsible for the data entry, analysis, and the provision of progress reports for VFC administrators and the Pediatric Asthma Home CARE/CASA Program funding agencies.

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