American Lung Association

1. The organization I chose was the American Lung Association.
a. The American Lung Association has many volunteering opportunities. For example,one could do advocacy efforts, which is bringing peoples attention to how important it is to have clean air and the importance of having healthy lungs. One would do this through telling their story and posting it on the website. Another interesting example of a way someone can volunteer is they can apply and go through training to teach “Open Airways For School” classes at schools or lead a “Better Breathers Club,” and do work through that way. One could also provide tobacco education, raising awareness through events, and become a lung hero.

2. Description of the organization.
a. The American Lung Association’s mission is “to save lives by improving health and preventing lung disease.” They also have listed on their website their vision which is “a world free of lung disease.” Their strategic imperatives are to “ defeat lung cancer, champion clean air for all, improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families, and create a tabacco-free future.”

b. The American Lung Association provides a lot of services. On their website, they have a tab that someone can click on and it tells you how the lungs in your body work. They provide what types of lung diseases their are and one can look at information about each disease. For example, they have information about Asthma, COPD, COVID-19, Cystic Fibrosis, and many more. Also, not only do they teach people about the diseases, they also teach people with the disease how to do certain things. For example, if one clicks on the Asthma tab, one can find information on how to clean a nebulizer, use belly breathing, etc.

c. One important need of the community they address is about smoking. They believe that smoking can have serious health effects on the community. On their “Quit Smoking” tab, they provide facts as to why someone should quit smoking. They also have articles about how to quit smoking if you want to and how to help someone quit smoking. This is an important need to the community that needs to be addressed because it has had serious health effects. It is also in their strategic imperatives to “create a tabacco-free future.” Another need of the community they address is how to make schools have better air quality. They also have a bullet list on how to keep pollution out of your home so it can improve the air quality in your home.
d. This organization is important to the community because it spreads awareness from lung diseases to how to keep the air clean. There is something for everyone on their website because it can educate people about lung diseases if they are interested, it can aid someone in quitting smoking, it can provide knowledge to those with lung diseases about their disease and it educates people how to have clean air.

e. I watched a video on youtube about the American Lung Association called “ American Lung Association: Community Spotlight.” In the video, the executive director of the association talks about how they go out into the community and they advocate, do research, and education programs so people can be informed about the different aspects of lung diseases and much more. She said that this is how they support their mission statement. They also host “Lung Force Walks,” which are community events that the community can come to and spread awareness and participate in fun activities.

3. How have my values about health changed or grown?
My values for the importance of health have grown. I believe that it is important to spread awareness about the lung diseases because it is helpful to know what other people are going through and how to help them. I also see the importance of teaching people about clean air and the effects of smoking. It is also important to get the community involved with health so if they are having any issues, they can talk about it. The American Lung Association is a great way to volunteer and expand ones knowledge on these diseases, and I think it is great to have these different programs such as this one, the American Heart Association, the American diabetes association, etc. These are very important to bring knowledge into a community.

4. Thinking about the community partner:
a. This related to my intended field because with nursing, Im sure there will be a lot of people with lung diseases or smoking issues. This association teaches me about these diseases and how to help them. It also teaches me about how the diseases work and that is important so I can know what an issue might be if there is a patient in respiratory distress.
b. Another major this could relate could be Environmental health. It can relate to this be cause of the advocacy and information about clean air and not having pollution in the air. With this, it could improve the lives of many living with lung diseases.
c. I do not think I would choose this as my parallel major.
d. It seems that this major has a lot of chemistry, which is one of my weaker subjects. I also really like the idea of being with people and helping them, so I may be better in a more therapeutic field for my parallel major.