School-Based Interprofessional Asthma Self-Management Education Program for Middle School Students: A Feasibility Trial.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is the most common chronic disease among school-aged children under 18 years of age and is a major cause of morbidity, loss of school days, and increased hospitalizations. Asthma disproportionately affects low-income, minority youth in Alabama. The benefits of improving asthma control and self-management have significance for improving health, preventing disease, and reducing health disparities by addressing social, behavioral, environmental, economic, and medical determinants of health.

OBJECTIVES: This collaborative community partnership between the Mobile County Public School System, University of South Alabama (USA), and USA Children's and Women's Hospital involved nursing students, respiratory therapy students, and medical residents from three colleges and the hospital. The research question was whether a school-based asthma self-management education program presented by an interprofessional team was feasible for teens with asthma in a medically underserved area (MUA).

METHODS: Middle school students with a diagnosis of asthma participated in this institutional review board-approved study. Asthma assessments, one-on-one coaching, and group education were done over five sessions, using Power Breathing for teens curriculum. Instruments were the Childhood Asthma Control Test (ACT), the Asthma Responsibility Questionnaire (ARQ), the Self-Efficacy Scale, the Pediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ), peak flow monitoring, and spirometry.

RESULTS: Eighteen students with moderate to severe persistent asthma completed the program with reduced asthma symptoms and increased asthma control, medication knowledge/skills, self-efficacy, and asthma responsibility.

CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents with asthma need education in medication management, spacer use, peak flow, trigger avoidance, and coaching to take on the responsibility of asthma care. This multidimensional, interprofessional approach can strengthen asthma self-management in a middle school medically underserved community population.