Feasibility and benefits of a school‐based academic and counseling program for older school‐age students with asthma

Abstract

An asthma education program for older school-age students with asthma was developed in collaboration with school personnel, health care professionals, and community partners. Feasibility and benefits were evaluated using a single-group, prospective, quasi-experimental design. The convenience sample, consisting of 28 grade 6 and 7 students with asthma, had 50% males, a diverse racial background, and a wide range of incomes. Feasibility and benefits were demonstrated by comparing pre-intervention to 1- and 12-month post-intervention evaluation of students who completed more than 70% of the 10 sessions. Statistically significant improvement sin cognitive, behavioral, psychosocial, and quality of life outcomes were seen from pre-intervention to 1-month post-intervention (all p < .03). Severity of asthma significantly improved from 1- to 12- month post-intervention (p = .04).

Comparative Effectiveness on Cognitive Asthma Outcomes of the SHARP Academic Asthma Health Education and Counseling Program and a Non‐Academic Program

“…Students enrolled in schools randomized to SHARP received ten 50-minute workbook-guided school sessions (Kintner & Sikorskii, 2009; Kintner et al, 2012). Detailed descriptions of the program’s curriculum and specifics on program delivery of the program are presented elsewhere (Kintner & Sikorskii, 2009; Kintner et al, 2012; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Allen et al, 2015; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Gomes et al, 2015).…”

“…Detailed descriptions of the program’s curriculum and specifics on program delivery of the program are presented elsewhere (Kintner & Sikorskii, 2009; Kintner et al, 2012; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Allen et al, 2015; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Gomes et al, 2015). …”

“…The composite fill-in-the blank score and the multiple-choice score are summed to compute a total score (range 0–20). Stability and validity are reported elsewhere (Kintner & Sikorskii, 2009; Kintner et al, 2012). …”

“…SHARP (Kintner & Sikorskii, 2009; Kintner et al, 2012; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Allen et al, 2015; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Gomes et al, 2015) is based on the acceptance of asthma model (AAM) that was developed through a series of qualitative and quantitative studies (Kintner, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2007) from an ecological approach (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) within a lifespan development perspective (Lerner, 1978, 1986; Santrock, 2010; Sugarman, 1986). In this model, education and counseling programs enhance a student’s knowledge of asthma (Kintner, 1996); reasoning about asthma symptom management, defined as introspective thinking through which situations are examined and options are considered (Kintner, 1997; Kintner, Cook, Hull, & Meeder, 2013); psychosocial acceptance of asthma and beliefs about the nature of asthma; and use of effective self-care behaviors.…”

“…Feasibility, benefits (Kintner et al, 2012), and efficacy (Kintner & Sikorskii, 2009) of SHARP have been established. Its effectiveness for psychosocial, behavioral, and quality of life outcomes compared to a well-established non-academic asthma education program, Open Airways for Schools (OAS; Clark et al, 2004; Evans et al, 1987), has been reported elsewhere (Kintner, Cook, Marti, Allen et al, 2015; Kintner, Cook, Marti, Gomes et al, 2015).…”