It was hypothesized that a health education program for children with asthma aged 8-11 years that was delivered in elementary schools, would increase children's asthma management skills, self-efficacy and influence on parents' management decisions; reduce school absences and improve school performance. The study population consisted of 239 low-income, predominantly Hispanic and black children from 12 elementary schools (six experimental and six control) in New York City. Parents did not attend educational sessions but received written materials. The program emphasized the child's responsibility for recognizing symptoms and taking appropriate management steps. Follow-up data obtained one year after the program showed that compared to controls experimental group children had higher scores on an index of asthma management (p less than 0.05), greater self-efficacy with respect to asthma management skills (p less than 0.05), more influence on parents' asthma management decisions (p less than 0.05), better grades in school (p = 0.05), and fewer episodes of asthma (p less than 0.01) of shorter average duration (p less than 0.01). No differences were observed for changes in number of school absences. These findings show that asthma health education designed for delivery to children can significantly increase management skills, reduce symptoms of asthma, and improve school performance.
Researchers from the North Carolina BEAUTY and Health Project conducted an observational study in 10 North Carolina beauty salons to gain insight into naturally occurring conversations between cosmetologists and customers, and to assess features of the salon environment that might be used to inform the development of salon-based health promotion interventions. Results revealed that the social environment of a salon is a place where cosmetologists and customers talk openly about many subjects, including health. Information, advice, appraisal, humor, and empathy are typically shared in these health conversations. Several features of the physical environment of the salon may be mobilized to support health--access to healthy foods, snacks, and beverages; smoking restrictions; and availability of print or video materials, signs, or displays that include healthy messages. Implications for planning salon-based health promotion interventions--including the training of licensed cosmetologists to deliver health messages--are discussed in light of these findings.
OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the relationship between psychosocial and behavioral factors and the frequency of emergency department visits for childhood asthma. METHODS: Data obtained from a survey of parents of 445 children who were being treated for asthma in the emergency room of a large urban hospital were examined. RESULTS: Factors associated with high emergency department use included the child's being of younger age, a greater number of days with symptoms of asthma, a higher number of asthma medicines prescribed, a prior hospitalization for asthma, a lower level of parental confidence in the efficacy of medicines, and a failure to use a criterion for deciding to seek emergency care. CONCLUSIONS: Younger children with asthma and children with previous hospitalization for asthma are at high risk for using emergency care. Families who use the emergency department frequently need to be further educated in the inflammatory nature of the disease, in the efficacy of proper use of medicine, in the need for ongoing care, and in criteria to distinguish those symptoms that can be handled at home from those requiring emergency care.
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