title: Asthma Self-Management Goals, Beliefs and Behaviors of Urban African American Adolescents Prior to Transitioning to Adult Health Care.
abstract: Adolescence is a unique time of development incorporating a transition from child centered to adult centered health care. This transition period can be particularly challenging for individuals with a chronic disease such as asthma. Inadequate transition planning during adolescence may place an already vulnerable population such as African American adolescents with known health disparities in asthma prevalence, morbidity and mortality at risk for a continuation of poor health outcomes across the lifespan. Central to transition planning for these youth is the core element of developing and prioritizing goals. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the asthma self-management goals, beliefs and behaviors of urban African American adolescents prior to transitioning from pediatric to adult health care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A focus group composed of 13 African American adolescents with asthma ages 14-18 years from an urban population was conducted. Responses from transcripts and field notes were reviewed using an iterative process to best characterize asthma self-management goals and beliefs that emerged.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four core themes were identified: 1) medication self-management, 2) social support, 3) independence vs. interdependence, and 4) self-advocacy. Medication self-management included subthemes of rescue medications, controller medications and medication avoidance. The social support theme included three subthemes: peer support, caregiver support and healthcare provider support.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that adolescents with asthma form both short term and long term goals. Their goals indicated a need for guided support to facilitate a successful health care transition.
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University College of Nursing, Detroit, MI. Electronic address: gibsonsc@wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Wanda
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gibson-Scipio
authors.affiliation: University of Chicago Department of Sociology, Chicago, IL.
authors.forename: Dustin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gourdin
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University College of Nursing, Detroit, MI.
authors.forename: Helene J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Krouse
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003469:Culture; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006040:Goals; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012648:Self Care; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D060305:Transition to Adult Care; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult; D016903:Drug Monitoring
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents
keywords: Adolescents; Disease self-management; Health care transition; Minority; Urban