Health New England's Pediatric
Asthma Management Program

Program Purpose

Health New England's Pediatric Asthma Management Program is based on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Guidelines for Managing Asthma in Children (NHLBI). The purpose of the program is to help children with asthma and their families gain better knowledge, understanding and control of their disease.

"Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood, affecting nearly 5 million children in the United States. This includes an estimated 1.3 million children under the age of 5 years. Each year, children with asthma miss more than 10 million school days (on average, more than 3 times the absences of children without asthma). Children with asthma account for almost 3 million physician visits and 200,000 hospitalizations each year." Source: Pediatric Asthma: Promoting Best Practice - Guide for Managing Asthma in Children

Program Goals

1. Raise awareness of patients and their families that asthma is a serious chronic disease.
   
   
2. Improve the quality of life for children and their families by increasing their knowledge about the treatment and effective control of asthma.
   
   
3. Provide families with educational materials/information, classes, and home/environmental assessments to improve their management of their child's asthma.

• Educate parents and children on asthma drugs and the difference between
  "controller" vs. "reliever" medications.
• Ensure effective control of asthma in all aspects of the child's life by
  encouraging a partnership between patients, family members, physicians,
  school personnel, and other health care professionals.

1. Increase the usage of the appropriate combination of long-acting B2 agonists and inhaled corticosteroids among children with moderate/severe persistent asthma.
   
   
2. Increase the number of children that are given a written action plan from their physician so that they will know what to do if/when their asthma gets worse.
   
   
3. Increase the number of children who have and use a home peak flow meter.
   
   
4. Reduce hospital and emergency room utilization.

Education Strategy

Using age appropriate materials and class offerings, the Health New England (HNE) Pediatric Asthma Program will help the parent/guardian and child learn asthma management skills. The following is an overview of the offerings by the HNE Pediatric Asthma Program:

• Educational Materials
  
  
• Contests
  
  
• Incentive Program and prizes
  
  
• Peak Flow Charts
  
  
• Asthma Signs and Peak Flow Diaries

Educational Classes

The Health New England Asthma Program staff also works with the physicians in the network. Copies of the asthma surveys and peak flow charts received are sent to the doctor for inclusion in the medical record. Many of the program goals are the same as the doctor's goals for asthma management. These include:

1. Increasing the number of children who have and know how to use a peak flow meter.
2. Increasing the parent's or guardian's awareness and knowledge of childhood asthma and effective asthma management.
3. Teaching children to self-manage their asthma by identifying and avoiding their asthma triggers, to recognize the early warning signs of asthma flare-ups, and to know what to do to prevent an asthma attack and to cope during an asthma attack.