Online Program

318560
An integrated approach to address asthma management in South Texas


Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Genny Carrillo, MD, MPH, MSPH, ScD, Department of Environmental Health, Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health, McAllen, TX
Emily Spence-Almaguer, MSW, Ph.D., Department of Behavioral & Community Health, School of Public Health, UNT Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX
Yoon-Ho Seol, PhD, Department of Clinical and Digital Health Sciences, Augusta University, Augusta, GA
Rose Lucio, MPH, Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Rural Public Health - McAllen Campus, McAllen, TX., McAllen, TX
Jose Luis Manzanarez Rivera, ScD, MSc, Department of Urban and Environmental Studies, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte A.C., Mexico, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico
Asthma is one of the most common chronic illnesses in the United States.  Hidalgo County, located in Health Service Region 11 in the Rio Grande Valley near the Texas-Mexico Border, has the highest asthma hospitalization rate in the state with an age-adjusted hospitalization rate of 16.8 % (15.3-18.4) per 10,000.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of an asthma education intervention focused on an integrated holistic approach to 89 residents of colonias, including quality of life results, health care utilization, behavioral changes made after the educational intervention, and satisfaction of participants regarding education received.

Methodology: This study was a longitudinal, non-randomized design, which included an educational intervention and the delivery of five surveys to assess asthma knowledge, quality of life, asthma triggers and management, and satisfaction.

Results:  Results demonstrated improvements in knowledge, asthma symptoms, asthma management, quality of life, general knowledge of asthma, and health care utilization effectiveness.  Overnight hospital stays dropped from 6% at baseline to 1% at follow-up. The percentage of families reporting a clinic or a doctor visit dropped from 50% at baseline to 31% at follow-up. The percentage of families reporting asthma attack incidents decreased by 30% between the first and last visits, and those reporting symptoms of wheezing or whistling while breathing declined by 23%.

Conclusions: Assessment of the asthma intervention implementation shows that the intervention targeting high-risk families, using the promotora model, is effective in engaging these families over time. Families who live in environmentally unhealthy colonias may benefit from an integrated training approach.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Chronic disease management and prevention
Environmental health sciences
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Assess whether an educational asthma intervention will improve knowledge, quality of life, health care utilization and effectiveness of the program. Discuss the challenges of offering asthma education to parents of children with no or under-insurance in South Texas. Discuss the advantages of collaborating with promotoras (community health workers) as workforce for an asthma program.

Keyword(s): Asthma, Child Health Promotion

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: NA

Not Answered