Project Funder: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Project Partners: City of Milwaukee, Battelle Memorial Institute, and Milwaukee College of Wisconsin
Project Contact: Jill Breysse, jbreysse@nchh.org, 443.539.4155
Project Description: NCHH and the Milwaukee Health Department conducted a randomized, controlled trial of the Milwaukee Healthy Homes Demonstration Project, enrolling families having at least one child with asthma. NCHH collected data on settled dust loadings and on dust concentrations of various allergens (e.g., dust mite, cockroach, mouse, cat, and dog). For the intervention group, there was a significant reduction in sieved dust loading from baseline to immediate post-intervention. Although dust loadings rose from the immediate post-intervention visit to the 12-month visit, they were still below baseline levels at the 12-month follow-up visit. Dust loadings were 72% higher in control group dwellings than in intervention group dwellings, but the interventions did not result in a significant change in allergen concentrations. Although the combination of nurse case management and home environmental interventions did not significantly change allergen concentrations, it yielded a significant decrease in settled dust loadings in intervention group dwellings compared with control group dwellings (where no decrease was observed), thus reducing the exposure burden for children residing in treated homes.