Introduction
Asthma is one of the chronic diseases, which cause much discomfort throughout life. The education of patients with this syndrome may be an effective method of reducing the negative impact of asthma on the body. As a target group, African American children with a diagnosed disease will be examined. Regular asthma management education interventions can reduce the disruption of daily lives and improve the control of asthma attacks thus contributing to the general quality of life.
The Spirit of Inquiry Ignited
Asthma is the disease that should be constantly monitored, and complications are to be avoided to obviate the threat of life. This ailment is particularly dangerous for children who are not able to monitor their state of health comprehensively. The prevalence of this disease is significant both in the US and other countries. According to Lee, Cross, Yang, Sutton, and Jiroutek (2016), there are “7.0 million children diagnosed with asthma in the United States” (p. 220). Moreover, as Al-Muhsen et al. (2015) argue, “frequency of visits to ED and hospitalizations by asthmatic children is more than twice as that for adults” (p. 123). This statistics confirms that the need for intervention is obvious, and as an eventual solution to the problem, educational courses may be offered.
The PICOT Question Formulated
In order to formulate the purpose of the intervention briefly, a PICOT question can be asked. This tool allows identifying key stakeholders and clearly identifying the scope of work. The PICOT question is as follows: in school-age children (P), does 30 minutes of school-based physical activity (I), compared with no physical activity (C), decrease BMI and childhood obesity risks (O), within a one-year period (T)?
Search Strategy Conducted
In order to find relevant sources that could be useful in this study, the following databases were reviewed: CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane Library, National Guidelines Clearinghouse, and TRIP Database. In order to narrow down the search, such key phrases as “asthma control in pediatric patients,” “asthma control in pediatric patients through education,” and “asthma control education” were used. This method of searching made it possible to find suitable academic sources with the information and the results that could have practical value.
Critical Appraisal of the Evidence Performed
Al-Muhsen et al. (2015) review 297 children aged from 1 to 17 with the diagnosis of asthma. According to the results of the work conducted, in 60.3% of the participants, inadequate management of the disease was identified (Al-Muhsen et al., 2015, p. 123). Also, the authors found that the lack of knowledge concerning this health problem aggravated the illness, and educational courses were recognized an important component of the course of treatment (Al-Muhsen et al., 2015). Parental involvement was also mentioned as a prerequisite for helping young patients.
The goal of the study by Kawafha and Tawalbeh (2014) was to determine the impact of an educational program on asthma control on school teachers. 74 participants were selected, while one group attended special courses, and the other control group did not take part in the intervention. According to the authors, those teachers who received the relevant training demonstrated significantly “higher knowledge of asthma in the first post-test and the second post-test compared with those in the control group” (Kawafha & Tawalbeh, 2014 p. 425). This result shows that the role of adult learning is significant because children may need help both at home and at school.
Lee et al. (2016) developed a special model “to identify associations between asthma education and variables of interest” (p. 220). In their research, the authors studied the health indicators of patients of different nationalities in order to observe the principle of diversity (Lee et al., 2016). The results revealed prove that the provision of educational programs aimed at reducing the consequences of asthma is low, despite the merits of such interventions.
Perry et al. (2018) conducted a comparative analysis of two groups of children with diagnosed asthma. All participants (81% were African American) lived in rural areas, but one part of them received regular care, and the other part had access to a special “school-based telemedicine asthma education” (p. 402). According to the results of the work performed, no significant improvements in health status were observed in the participants of the intervention, nevertheless, they became more attentive to doctors’ prescriptions.
Trivedi et al. (2017) consider a specialized program aimed at maintaining the health of children with asthma. According to the authors of the study, “this program relied on established family, provider and school resources rather than research staff” (Trivedi et al., 2017, p. 1). The findings of the study emphasize that the use of this program can help to reduce the readmission rate of young patients with asthma and achieve more positive outcomes of treatment compared with the standard principles of medical care.
Evidence Integrated with Clinical Expertise and Patient Preferences to Implement the Best Practice
Based on the findings, it is possible to make an intervention plan. The aim of the study is to determine whether educational training is useful for controlling the course of asthma in African American children. A clinical question may sound as follows: is the annual intervention program useful for children suffering from asthma compared to standard treatment? Approximate course time is one year since this period is sufficient to collect all the data. Stakeholders are both patients themselves and the medical personnel who are responsible for conducting the training.
The theoretical framework of intervention includes the use of some ideas and hypotheses considered. The design of the study can be experimental since, firstly, the intervention will be initiated, and secondly, the results obtained will be evaluated. The safety of patients’ data will be respected because the disclosure of medical confidentiality is a gross violation of medical ethics, even if children are participants in the study. The research will include periodic educational training with subsequent evaluation of its effectiveness. Teaching aids, hands-on manuals, and video materials will be tools for intervention.
Outcome of Practice Change Evaluated
The outcome of the intervention will be evaluated based on the results obtained after the entire training course. Children’s health indicators will be assessed and compared with those of patients who did not participate in the study. Feedback from children and attending physicians will also be taken into account as essential components of the program. Based on the results, conclusions regarding the benefits of the intervention can be made.
Project Dissemination
In case the program of intervention justifies itself, the results of the project can be disseminated among the nursing and medical staff. Information may also be printed in academic papers so that everyone could have free access to these data. The results of the work performed may be transferred to other clinics so that colleagues from other medical institutions could benefit from this method of helping children.
Conclusion
The use of a special asthma management training program can help young patients to fight their illness successfully and not to experience severe discomfort caused by this ailment. Due to the fact that African American children are particularly prone to this disease, they will be the main participants of the one-year study. The information collected from academic sources may be useful for designing an intervention program and developing the project. The results obtained can be disseminated among medical staff to increase their knowledge of the benefits of the work done.
References
Al-Muhsen, S., Horanieh, N., Dulgom, S., Aseri, Z. A., Vazquez-Tello, A., Halwani, R., & Al-Jahdali, H. (2015). Poor asthma education and medication compliance are associated with increased emergency department visits by asthmatic children. Annals of Thoracic Medicine, 10(2), 123-131. Web.
Kawafha, M. M., & Tawalbeh, L. I. (2014). The effect of asthma education program on knowledge of school teachers: A randomized controlled trial. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 37(4), 425-440. Web.
Lee, M. G., J. Cross, K, J., Yang, W. Y., Sutton, B. S., & Jiroutek, M. R. (2016). Frequency of asthma education in primary care in the years 2007–2010, Journal of Asthma, 53(2), 220-226. Web.
Perry, T. T., Halterman, J. S., Brown, R. H., Luo, C., Randle, S., M., R., Hunter, C. R., & Rettiganti, M. (2018). Results of an asthma education program delivered via telemedicine in rural schools. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 120(4), 401-408. Web.
Trivedi, M., Patel, J., Lessard, D., Kremer, T., Byatt, N., Phipatanakul W., … Goldberg, R. (2017). School nurse asthma program reduces healthcare utilization in children with persistent asthma. Journal of Asthma, 1-7. Web.