Asthma Emergency Department Visits

Environmental Health Disparities in Vermont: Asthma

Asthma can be affected by environmental conditions such as poor indoor air quality, mold, pests, tobacco smoke, and outdoor air pollution. These conditions are not experienced equally by everyone.

Looking at emergency department visits helps identify communities that may experience a greater burden of asthma and where prevention efforts may have the greatest impact.

Vermonters who are unable to work, rent their homes, have disabilities, or are in families making less than 1.25 times the federal poverty level are disproportionately more likely to have asthma.

On this page: Explore the Data What the Data Show Putting the Data into Action More Information

Explore the Data

Explore the report below to learn about asthma emergency department visits in Vermont.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Asthma Emergency Department Visits

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What the Data Show

Asthma-related emergency department visits are not experienced equally across Vermont communities.
Black or African American Vermonters had higher asthma emergency department visit rates than other racial and ethnic groups.
Environmental and social factors, such as housing quality, access to healthcare, and exposure to environmental hazards, may contribute to these differences.
Understanding these disparities can help guide public health efforts and target resources where they are needed most.

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Putting the Data into Action

Working toward environmental justice in Vermont means addressing the upstream factors (like housing access, healthcare and transportation) that lead to disproportionate asthma emergency department visits by race. Some ways we might work toward this include:

Making sure Vermonters have equal access to routine, culturally competent healthcare, messaging and medication - so conditions like asthma are managed before they result in an emergency department visit.
Making sure Vermonters have equal access to safe and healthy housing.
Engaging with community groups to learn more about specific environmental health concerns in their neighborhoods.

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