Community health workers providing asthma education

Abstract

Objectives: Children living in urban areas experience disproportionate rates of asthma. Substandard housing conditions in some urban areas contribute to greater exposure to household asthma triggers. This article examines the geographic connection between pediatric asthma and substandard housing in one mid-sized city in Pennsylvania and the effectiveness of a home-based Community Health Worker (CHW) intervention targeted at this high-risk area to improve families’ abilities to manage their children’s asthma.

Methods: The CHWs provided education and resources to families of children diagnosed with mild, moderate or severe persistent asthma. A pre and post-test design was implemented to evaluate if the CHW intervention improved the family’s ability to successfully manage their child’s asthma. Eighty-one patients completed the program over a six-month period.

Results: Results showed significant improvements in the areas of asthma knowledge, fewer missed days of school, fewer days with asthma symptoms, reduction in wheezing and fewer sleep disturbances. There was also a significant decrease in the number of Emergency Department visits and hospital days.

Conclusions: By teaching asthma management skills and by addressing in-home triggers, home-based CHW led interventions can be an affordable and effective way for caregivers and children with asthma to improve asthma management.

Keywords:

• Asthma
• pediatric
• spatial analysis
• intervention
• community health worker
• housing

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital and the Lehigh Valley Health Network Department of Community Health for their leadership, Lehigh Valley Pediatric Pulmonology group for their partnership in referring patients, Dr. Valerie J. Lewis for her contributions as one of the founders of the CAEP program and the LVHN Community Health Workers who counseled participants and their families toward healthier living.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This article was funded by The Dorothy Rider Pool Health Care Trust.