Clinical Outcomes of a Pediatric Asthma Outreach Program
This study will examine outcomes that may be attributed to an interdisciplinary, intensive home-based Asthma Outreach Program (AOP) sponsored by the Yale University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics, Section of Respiratory Medicine. The AOP is geared toward moderate and severe asthmatic children and their families. Based on an ecological model of care, the program provides intensive education and outreach, psychosocial and environmental assessments and interventions to reduce exposure to asthma triggers and promote adherence to asthma management guidelines. While the program has been well received by the participants and providers involved, little has been done to demonstrate positive outcomes of the intervention. This study will examine the effects of the program on two sets of outcome measures: health care utilization rates (as measured by number of ED visits, primary provider visits, missed school days, hospital admissions and so on), and quality of life which quantifies the child's subjective experiences with a chronic illness and treatment which are central to that child's everyday life. The expected impact of this project is that it will validate the work of an existing interdisciplinary health care and outreach program for high risk asthmatic children in the New Haven community. It will also highlight the AOP as a model for accessible, comprehensive interdisciplinary health care which may then be implemented for other patient populations.
Funded by the Beatrice Renfield-Yale School of Nursing Clinical Research Initiatives Fund
