Developing, Implementing, and Evaluating a School-Centered Asthma Program: Step-Up Asthma Program.
Asthma is a significant health problem among children: 9.3% of children in the United States suffer from asthma. Children with persistent asthma in inner cities have increased health care utilization, worse health care outcomes, increased school absences, and worse academic performance.



We sought to create and evaluate a school-centered asthma program to reduce asthma morbidity and create asthma-friendly schools.



We developed, implemented, and evaluated the Step-Up Asthma Program, a multidisciplinary school-centered asthma program. The program was designed as an outreach program with asthma counselors as a bridge between subspecialty asthma care, primary care providers, school nurses, and children with asthma. The core components of the program involve identifying children with asthma, providing evidence-based asthma education, and case management. Students' asthma knowledge, inhaler technique, and number of asthma exacerbations were evaluated over a 2-year period (2010-2012) as a pre-post study.



A total of 252 students enrolled in the Step-Up Asthma Program over a 2-year period. Significant improvements were noted in number of asthma action plans, rescue medications at school, and asthma controllers. Program participants had significant improvements in asthma knowledge scores (P < .001) and inhaler technique (P < .0001). There were significant reductions in asthma exacerbations defined as oral steroid courses, urgent care visits, and missed school days (P < .05) that persisted over time.



A guideline-based school-centered asthma program can significantly reduce asthma morbidity. The asthma counselor is the cornerstone of the program, providing asthma education and care coordination. The Step-Up Asthma Program is in its 10th year, and we believe the key elements of this program can be implemented in other school systems.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo; The Breathing Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colo.
Deborah R
DR
Liptzin
Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo; The Breathing Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colo.
Melanie C
MC
Gleason
Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo; Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo.
Lisa C
LC
Cicutto
Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo.
Chris L
CL
Cleveland
Denver Public Schools, Denver, Colo.
Donna J
DJ
Shocks
The Breathing Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colo; Denver Public Schools, Denver, Colo.
Martha K
MK
White
Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, Colo.
Anna V
AV
Faino
Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo; The Breathing Institute, Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, Colo. Electronic address: Stanley.szefler@childrenscolorado.org.
Stanley J
SJ
Szefler
D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012572:School Health Services; D012574:Schools
Asthma; Case Management; School nursing; Schools