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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Joan Rosen Bloch, PhD, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania, 420 Guardian Drive, Philadelphia, PA 19104, 856-751-9211, jbloch@nursing.upenn.edu
Problem: Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood with significant mortality and morbidity. For many children, normal summer activities often include attending summer camps. But, attending outdoor summer camps may be problematic for children with asthma. Whether children with asthma attend such camps and have increased asthma-related problems has yet to be explored. Purpose: Describe the outcomes of children with asthma who attended this regular outdoor day camp and the nursing support that children with asthma required while attending camp. Design: The study design is a descriptive retrospective study that included 1653 children between the ages of 3 and 15. The setting for the camp was outdoors on 120 acres of heavily wooded land in the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey. Data were collected through a review of nursing records. Findings: The prevalence of children with asthma at camp was 9.4% (n=156). 10.9% (n=17) of these children received regularly scheduled medication; 12.2% (n=19) received PRN medication; 765 doses of asthma medications were administered to these children during 39 days. 13.5% (n=21) of the children presented during the season with asthma-related problems for a total of 60 visits. Of the 60 visits, 11.7% necessitated that a parent pick up the child from camp. Implications These data provide information that is important to help make decisions based on empirical knowledge in order to evaluate summer day camps for their children with asthma. Some of the children identified with asthma necessitated nursing care while at camp. To evaluate a camp's safety, parents should inquire if there are nurses and how accessible is the nurse's office to campers.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Asthma, Child Care
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.