Asthma Action at Erie Trial

The Asthma Action at Erie Trial will test the ability of a community health worker (CHW) intervention with three important modifications to achieve asthma control in high-risk children. These modifications are: 1) CHWs will be integrated into both the clinical and the home setting, 2) A system for directly addressing mental health and psychosocial barriers will be provided, and 3) Participants will be provided only materials and equipment for trigger remediation that are supported by the current medical reimbursement system. To test this intervention, a two-arm behavioral randomized controlled trial (N=220) will be conducted in partnership with a federally-qualified health center (FQHC) serving a low income, minority population that is at high-risk for significant asthma morbidity. The intervention arm will receive an integrated CHW home intervention for pediatric asthma education. The comparison arm will received clinic-based certified asthma educator (AE-C) services. Primary Aim 1 is to assess the efficacy of the integrated CHW home asthma intervention, relative to clinic-based AE-C education over 12-months, as demonstrated by asthma control. Specific Aim 2 is to assess maintenance of intervention efficacy, as demonstrated by asthma control at 18 and 24 months after randomization. Specific Aim 3 is to determine the cost-effectiveness at 12-months of CHW and AE-C intervention delivery, and additional costs or savings related to asthma exacerbations at 12- and 24-months. Specific Aim 4 is to assess the efficacy of the integrated CHW home asthma intervention relative to clinic-based AE-C education, as demonstrated by asthma control, among those experiencing depression, stress, and/or a post-traumatic stress disorder.

Inclusion criteria

• Child is a patient at Erie Family Health Center
• Child is age 5-16 at the start of the study
• Child lives with the index caregiver at least 5 days out of the week
• Child has uncontrolled asthma. This is defined as a score of 1.25 or greater on the Asthma Control Questionnaire, or report of oral corticosteroid use in the past year
• Family has a working telephone

Exclusion criteria

• Exclusion criteria include family not fluent in English or Spanish, family lives in temporary housing such as a shelter, caregiver does not have permanent custody of child, or child has significant developmental delays or co-morbidities that would limit their ability to participate in the program.