Asthma mentor program: Building community partnerships for health improvement

Introduction: In alignment with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Asthma Prevention and Management Initiative, Alpha Sigma Omega Chapter in Columbus, Ohio and Nationwide Children's Hospital partnered to create an asthma parent mentorship program to enhance parental self-efficacy for adherence to treatment plans and prevention of serious asthma exacerbation. Methods: The study population included parents of children, ages 5-11, with poorly controlled asthma. Families were referred to the project from a Medicaid managed care organization or by an elementary school nurse. Participating parents attended an educational forum and were subsequently contacted monthly for 6-months by volunteer mentors who delivered scripted supportive and disease management messages. Content of the forum and the monthly messages was adapted from the APMI parent curriculum. Each parent completed a baseline survey in person and a 6-month follow-up survey via-phone. Results: Eleven parents, representing 15 children with asthma, completed the pre and post assessments. Of the 66 calls expected between March and August, mentors attempted 63 calls (95%) and made 30 successful calls (45%). In the post assessment, 69% percent of parents stated they were “completely sure” they could help child stay calm during an a “serious breathing problem” (from 53%), 53% they could prevent a serious breathing problem from occurring (from 46%) and 92% stated they knew when to take their child to the Emergency Room (from 73%) Discussion: This volunteer-based intervention, led by a national service-oriented sorority, has demonstrated potential to meaningfully improve self-efficacy of parents of urban children with poorly controlled asthma.