Translating the Seattle-King County Healthy Homes asthma intervention to an African-American, Chicago Community: Preliminary findings and lessons learned

Translational research, a main goal of the National Institutes of Health, aims to enhance the adoption of best practices to communities. In 2008, the Sinai Urban Health Institute sought to assess the feasibility of successfully implementing an asthma intervention modeled after the Seattle King-County Healthy Homes (SKCHH) project in a Westside, Chicago community. Among the most burdened communities, asthma affects 25% of children living on Chicago's Westside, a rate twice the national prevalence (13%). Therefore, implementing an intervention developed after SKCHH offered the opportunity to test the model and translation theory in a vital population. The study addresses asthma disparities through a multi-pronged approach, aiming to improve asthma by educating families to better manage asthma medically, while also addressing the disproportionate presence of asthma triggers in the home. This is done through the expertise of Community Health Workers, who make six home visits over a year. During eighteen months of recruitment, 266 children were enrolled into the intervention. Data are analyzed using a before and after study design and will be presented on children who completed the 12-month evaluation phase. Preliminary findings demonstrate significantly improved asthma control. Specifically, symptom frequency has been reduced by 43%, emergency department visits have been reduced by 74%, and activity-limited days have been reduced by 45%. The intervention also resulted in several key findings regarding the adaptability, feasibility, and uptake of the SKCHH project to Chicago's Westside. Process and outcome measures will be presented to highlight lessons learned, including recruitment methodologies, intervention protocols, and community partnership