142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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305462
Translating asthma management research to practice: Lessons learned from creating an intervention program manual

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Sarah David, BS , Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Donna Bryson, R.N., AE-C , American Lung Association, Tucson, Tucson, AZ
James Goodwin, PhD , Arizona Respiratory Center, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Lynn B. Gerald, PhD, MSPH , Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, Division of Health Promotion Sciences, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Issues:  Asthma is a chronic lung disease and a leading contributor to childhood morbidity that disproportionately affects children in low-income urban areas.  Much of the excess morbidity in asthma is related to medication non-adherence. Consequently, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program has identified the need for effective medication adherence programs.

Description:  The Supervised Asthma Medication in Schools program was developed to provide directly observed, daily controller medications to students as part of a cost-effective, comprehensive, school-based asthma intervention. This proved to be an efficacious approach to increase medication adherence and asthma control in an ethnically diverse, low-income school system. The current project is translating the intervention from a research project into a program model for community and school partnerships to effectively administer under real-world conditions.

Lessons Learned:  Translating the program into a community intervention, we worked with local schools and the American Lung Association of Arizona to create a program guide to provide information and support materials for schools or community partners.  The guide details how to organize, maintain, and evaluate such a program. Key challenges include: perceptions of asthma as a low-priority health issue, communication with families, administrative pressures associated with standardized test performance, staffing shortages, and funding concerns. 

Recommendations: Parent and community involvement early in the project develops strong partnerships and provides opportunities to clarify goals and expectations. Strategic program evaluation can demonstrate program benefit and guide program management. Tailoring the program to each school integrates health programs into the school environment to improve chronic disease management.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Identify and describe potential strategies to address issues that may arise in school-based asthma management.

Keyword(s): Asthma, School-Based Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a graduate student and teaching assistant in Health Promotion Sciences and Family and Child health. I am an intern with American Lung Association of Arizona in Lung Health Programs. Among my interests has been the development of strategies for effective school-based healthcare and health education.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.