Carrillo, Genny, Spence-Almaguer, Emily, Chong-Menard, Betty, Smith, Kenneth, and Rose L. Lucio. "Improving Asthma in Hispanic Families Through a Home-Based Educational Program." Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology 28, no. 3 (2015): 165-71. Accessed November 8, 2015. doi:10.1089/ped.2015.0523.
The following report examined the success of a home-based educational program for asthma targeted at Hispanic families in Hidalgo County in southwest Texas. Random families in the county who had children diagnosed with asthma were selected, and families were educated on asthma care, as well as given supplies and tools to reduce asthma triggers. The program saw an improvement in the traits assessed, which include quality of life, general knowledge of asthma, hospitalization rates, and asthma incidents, among other things. The rates of people suffering from wheezing dropped by 23% thanks to this program as an example of its success.
Genny Carrillo and Rose L Lucio both work at the Texas A&M Health Science Center. They have collaborated on many other papers that focus on reducing asthma triggers, such as “Working towards the improvement of asthma outcomes in schools using a curriculum implemented by respiratory therapy students”.Emily Spence-Almaguer works at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. Betty Chong-Menard is a registered respiratory therapist at South Texas College, and Kenneth Smith is a certified respiratory therapist at Rio Grande Regional Hospital.
The main finding of this study is that the year-long educational and preventative program issued to a target audience of Hispanic families in a rural, uneducated community proved to be successful in reducing asthma severity.
The study supports these findings through testing for symptoms associated with asthma and seeing a reduction in occurrence and severity. For example, 39.2% of families reported that their children had asthma attacks within a 4 week period before the start of the program, whereas only 9.2% of children suffered from asthma attacks within a 4 week period before the final visit of the program. A similar reduction can also be seen in the frequency of families reporting that their children had difficulty breathing or wheezing. 57.1% of children suffered from wheezing or other breathing symptoms at the start of the program, while only 34.5% reported those same symptoms within 4 weeks of the end of the program. Finally, 60% of chlidren reported that they lost sleep due to asthma symptoms before the start of the program, while only 33.8% of children reported this same occurrence by the end of the program.
“Costs associated with these hospitalizations totaled $652.5 million, with 90% of them being potentially preventable.”
“Nearly all of the 89 families who completed the program were Hispanic (97.8%), and reported household incomes were <$30,000 per year. Ninety-one percent were single-family households, and 60% said they owned their homes.”
“The results from this study demonstrate that improvements in the areas of healthcare utilization, asthma symptoms, quality of life impact on families, and participants’ knowledge of asthma and use of management strategies is possible.”
The program collected data based on surveys from 89 families with children diagnosed with asthma in Hidalgo County. Two promotoras (community health workers) were assigned to educate each family on asthma symptoms and care. The worker would visit each family three times during the program; once at the beginning, once after 6 months in the program, and once after 9-12 months. At each visit, the promotoras would administer a survey to assess home quality and asthma severity. The first visit would involve surveys to determine the severity of asthma, as well as provide information on removing asthma triggers. The second visit would check on the progress of the family, and the third visit would review all of the changes that the family had made and receive feedback on the program.
At the end of the program, the family is given information on the Medication Assistance Program(MAP), which provides free to low-cost medicine to uninsured or underinsured individuals. This is meant to address the fact that most of these families are living with an income under $30000 per year.
The article was published in September 2015, and the journal website is not offering any information on where else this paper was cited in between then and the time that I accessed the article, so I cannot report any information as to where else this was cited.
Of the 22 articles cited, only 4 came from government organizations, and that was mostly for background information about the region being studied. Most of the other citations come from academic journals on asthma and allergies. This seems to indicate a lack of governmental meddling in the study, although they did receive funding from the TDSHS and the EPA as listed in the acknowledgments section.
I first looked up the MAP program to see what it could offer to patients. This program covers the costs for medications for members who frequent a federally funded hospital for only a $5 co-pay for every application filed for a prescription. It does not specify if there are any stipulations for the medications covered under these programs, which are found in many locations across the country. In a study conducted in Houston that was cited by this study, only about half of the eligible population uses one of these programs, with many stating that they would have joined these programs had they known about their existence earlier.
Next, I took a look at the colonias, which are a series of derelict housing complexes that line the Rio Grande Valley. These houses are built by poor landowners on agriculturally unfit land, like floodplains. These houses are of extremely poor quality, lacking proper water and sewage connections, and lung ailments like tuberculosis are very frequent in these areas. Poor infrastructure means that it is difficult for patients to retrieve even potable water, much less medications. Finally, I examined a study cited by the report that took a look at a Healthy Homes program similar to the one offered by the TDSHS. This study was based off an educational program directed at school children in Miami. It found success in raising awareness and educating children on asthma, but did not report anything further, such as a reduction in asthma attacks at school after the start of the program.
The following report examined the success of a home-based educational program for asthma targeted at Hispanic families in Hidalgo County in southwest Texas. Random families in the county who had children diagnosed with asthma were selected, and families were educated on asthma care, as well as given supplies and tools to reduce asthma triggers. The program saw an improvement in the traits assessed, which include quality of life, general knowledge of asthma, hospitalization rates, and asthma incidents, among other things. The rates of people suffering from wheezing dropped by 23% thanks to this program as an example of its success.
“Nearly all of the 89 families who completed the program were Hispanic (97.8%), and reported household incomes were <$30,000 per year. Ninety-one percent were single-family households, and 60% said they owned their homes.”
“The results from this study demonstrate that improvements in the areas of healthcare utilization, asthma symptoms, quality of life impact on families, and participants’ knowledge of asthma and use of management strategies is possible.”
Next, I took a look at the colonias, which are a series of derelict housing complexes that line the Rio Grande Valley. These houses are built by poor landowners on agriculturally unfit land, like floodplains. These houses are of extremely poor quality, lacking proper water and sewage connections, and lung ailments like tuberculosis are very frequent in these areas. Poor infrastructure means that it is difficult for patients to retrieve even potable water, much less medications.
Finally, I examined a study cited by the report that took a look at a Healthy Homes program similar to the one offered by the TDSHS. This study was based off an educational program directed at school children in Miami. It found success in raising awareness and educating children on asthma, but did not report anything further, such as a reduction in asthma attacks at school after the start of the program.