209366 Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL): Identification of Children with Asthma for a Clinical Trial in New Orleans Post-Katrina

Monday, November 9, 2009: 11:30 AM

Mosanda Mvula, MD, MPH , City of New Orleans Health Department, New Orleans, LA
Suzanne Kennedy, PhD , Rho Federal Systems Division Inc., Chaple Hill, NC
Herman Mitchell, PhD , Rho Federal Systems Division Inc., Chaple Hill, NC
Richard D. Cohn, PhD , SRA International, Inc., Durham, NC
Jane El-Dahr, MD , School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Maureen Lichtveld, MD, MPH , Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Professor & Chair, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA
Faye Grimsley, PhD , School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Luann White, PhD, DABT , School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
Yvonne Sterling, RN, PhD , School of Nursing, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
William J. Martin, MD , National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC
Kevin U. Stephens, MD, JD , City of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
  
Introduction:

In the Spring of 2008, the HEAL study lunched a city-wide school-based effort to identify school children with moderate-to-severe asthma for participation in an individualized asthma counseling program. Several thoughtful steps were taken to reach out and gain acceptance from a community largely minority, underserved and overstressed.

Three methods were used to contact parents of school children: 1) In spring of 2007, a 1-page letter, on school letterhead signed by the principal, was sent to all families of school children in Orleans Parish. 2) In the summer of 2007 the recruitment letter focused on current asthma. This was sent to families of children identified by summer camp directors. 3) In the fall of 2007 through the end of the recruitment period, a letter from the school-nurse was sent to parents of children with asthma identified by the school.

Results:

One hundred and ten schools in Orleans Parish (publics, charters, and parochial) participated in the spring 2007 recruitment. From these schools, a total of 20,000 principal letters were sent and 6087 of those were returned by interested families. In the summer of 2007, 3,168 letters were distributed to summer camps and 158 letters were returned. Between the fall of 2007 through the end of recruitment, 13,671 school-nurse letters were distributed in 207 schools, 611 letters were returned.

Conclusion:

Over 6,800 school-based letters were collected and 182 participants were randomized into the study. This represents the largest inner-city asthma study population ever recruited from a single geographic location compared with other inner-city asthma studies. We consider this a major accomplishment considering multiple challenges including a short recruitment period and the markedly reduced returning population to post-Katrina New Orleans and its broken infrastructure.

Learning Objectives:
Describe the New Orleans school population post-Katrina Describe the HEAL recruitment strategies, challenges, and outcomes in a largely underserved, and overstressed population.

Keywords: Asthma, Children's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Dr. Mvula is presently serving as the Chair of the Division of Minority Health and Health Disparities at the City of New Orleans Department of Health. He is also the Director of the Head-Off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL), a project funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Before taking this position with the city he was Assistant professor of pediatrics at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans where he served for 9 years.
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.

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