The Inner-City Asthma Intervention tool kit: best practices and lessons learned.
BACKGROUND
Asthma is a major public health problem of increasing concern in the United States. Low-income populations, minorities, and children living in inner cities experience disproportionately higher morbidity and mortality due to asthma. In 1991, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health funded the National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study (NCICAS), the foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded Inner-City Asthma Intervention (ICAI) on which the tool kit discussed in this article is based.


OBJECTIVE
To summarize the purpose and content of a tool kit for health care organizations that wish to enhance their asthma management efforts and to improve the quality of life of children with asthma and their families.


METHODS
The ICAI was tailored to the individual child and family through a combination of group and individual activities (core) and follow-up. Information contained in the tool kit is based on project reports, tracking and data collection reports, program oversight activity, and general subject matter knowledge.


RESULTS
Although the NCICAS proved successful, moving from a research design to the real world of implementation was difficult. The tool kit draws on the experience of implementation and provides strategies, options, and considerations for health care organizations to use in tailoring project activities.


CONCLUSIONS
The ICAI demonstrated that committed health care organizations, with trained and experienced individuals, could help empower children and families to manage childhood asthma. The tool kit was designed to share the best practices and lessons learned from the ICAI implementation of the NCICAS protocol at the community level.
Love
Adrienne Segoris
AS
Alliance of Community Health Plans Foundation, Washington, DC 20006, USA.
Spiegel
John
J
D001249:Asthma / Q000191:economics / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. / Q000458:organization & administration*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003376:Counseling; D003625:Data Collection; D006078:Government Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States; D014504:Urban Health; D014505:Urban Population