Climbing up the family tree: Reaching women for asthma self-management support via pediatric asthma services

Background/significance: Adult women experience disproportionate asthma prevalence and morbidity. Most existing asthma-education programs are directed at pediatric asthma. Asthma clusters in families; therefore one potential route to providing women with asthma-management support is via interventions for their children.

Objective/purpose:  In evaluating the dissemination of the evidence-based “Women Breathe Free” (WBF) program, we explored ways partnering organizations with a predominantly pediatric focus integrated asthma education for women into their services.

Methods: We analyzed qualitative data from transcripts of key informant interviews and notes from technical assistance calls with staff from implementing organizations.  We coded strategies, benefits, and challenges related to integrating WBF into asthma education delivery models that primarily serve pediatric patients.

Results: Two partnering organizations included WBF components in home visit programs in low-income communities that mostly served children. A third delivered WBF via asthma educators who staff a hotline frequently used by mothers of children with asthma. Staff cited beneficial “trickle-down effects” of educating the mother about her illness on the child’s asthma, and overlap in program content for children and adults. Most challenges were administrative in nature.  Organizations identified additional potential ways of integrating asthma education for mothers and children; e.g., screening mothers for asthma during child-focused interactions.

Discussion/conclusions: Using pediatric programs to reach women with asthma may be both feasible and beneficial.  Future asthma interventions may be designed to simultaneously meet the needs of mothers and children as an efficient way of improving outcomes, and addressing race and socioeconomic disparities in asthma outcomes present across age groups.