ERIC Number: EJ741858
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006-Aug
Pages: 7
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-4391
EISSN: N/A
Evaluation and Sustainability of the Healthy Learners Asthma Initiative
Splett, Patricia L.; Erickson, Cecelia D.; Belseth, Stephanie B.; Jensen, Charlotte
Journal of School Health, v76 n6 p276-282 Aug 2006
The Healthy Learners Asthma Initiative (HLAI) involved collaboration between Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), local health care providers/payors, parents, and other partners. The intervention included development of enhanced asthma care in school health offices and clinic performance improvement projects to foster adoption of National Institutes of Health asthma guidelines. Goals were to improve asthma management among school children and reduce asthma-related school absences, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits. The effectiveness evaluation utilized a randomized community trial design with 16 elementary and middle schools matched and randomly assigned to either an intervention or a control group. Outcomes investigated were (a) school health office impacts and (b) school attendance. Data sources included school health office records, district attendance, enrollment, and demographics files. Following implementation of the HLAI, asthma visits to health offices were significantly lower in intervention schools compared to control schools (91 vs 121 visits per 100 students with asthma per month), and intervention schools had greater availability of medication and asthma action plans and more peakflow measurements, asthma education, and parent communication. Clinics initiated significantly more asthma action plans and sent them to MPS. Attendance differences between groups were limited to students who received asthma care through the school health office. Monitoring of asthma management activities provided through school health offices from 2002 to 2005 indicates sustained implementation of enhanced asthma care in schools and increased asthma communication between school, parents, and health care providers.
Descriptors: Middle Schools, Intervention, Diseases, Control Groups, Clinics, Attendance, School Health Services, Public Schools, Health Promotion, Program Effectiveness, Elementary Schools, Program Evaluation, Information Sources, Comparative Analysis, Child Health
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Middle Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Minnesota
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A