Impact of a Nurse-Led Virtual Asthma Education Program on Middle School-Aged Children's Asthma Self-Management

Abstract

Asthma is a leading chronic disease among school-aged children and adolescents. In one rural Maryland public school system, asthma accounts for many school health visits, missed school days, and emergency room (ER) visits, especially among middle schoolers. Learning asthma self-management techniques must become a priority to prevent poor health outcomes in this group. Currently in the school system, asthma self-management education is not provided to asthmatic adolescents. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project sought to explore whether a school-based, nurse-led group asthma education program, called Kickin’ Asthma, implemented virtually, could improve asthma symptoms, spacer use technique, rescue inhaler needs, and frequency of ER visits among students with persistent asthma in grades 6 through 8 over three months. Current evidence suggests school-based asthma education may improve asthma knowledge and self-management abilities with resultant improved health outcomes among asthmatic adolescents. Despite limitations set forth by COVID-19, this project found school-based asthma education can improve asthma-related sleep disturbance (p<0.05), frequency of asthma controller medication use (p<0.05), and spacer use technique (P<0.05) among adolescents with asthma, as well as modestly decrease frequency of rescue inhaler use (p=0.53). School-based asthma education is a cost-effective intervention with potential to reach many adolescents in a single location and improve population health for this group. Future interventions are needed with larger samples to evaluate whether similar school-based asthma education initiatives can reproduce positive health benefits and improve disease-specific knowledge and skills among asthmatic adolescents nationwide.