Date of Graduation

Summer 8-16-2017

Document Access

Project/Capstone - Global access

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

College/School

School of Nursing and Health Professions

First Advisor

Dhrubajyoti Bhattacharya

Second Advisor

Courtney Keeler

Third Advisor

Alba Diaz

Abstract

Since 1997, asthma prevalence rates have increased by 3% annually, leading to a current rate of 18.4 million adults and 6.2 million children with asthma, high hospitalization and emergency department visit rates, and an overall healthcare spending of 50 billion dollars. However, this increase in prevalence is disproportionately impacting children. Asthma is the third leading cause for hospitalization in children, have higher proportions of children being hospitalized with asthma symptoms, and have higher rates of asthma attacks. Recent literature shows that perceived lack of adequate education in areas such as medication adherence, medical device usage, asthma trigger avoidance, lack of accessible education resources, and overall education on understanding asthma symptoms are leading to this high disproportion of children adversely affected by asthma.

Community-based education interventions provide essential and accessible education to children adversely impacted by their asthma symptoms. The Asthma Educators Institute (AEI) is one program that may improve childhood asthma health outcomes while reducing burdens on the healthcare system. Teaming up with American Lung Association’s Greater Bay Area branch, this year’s AEI focused on educating the healthcare provider to teach their patients, patient’s families, and community members on the best ways to manage their asthma at home and provide essential asthma education in the hopes of improving these outcomes.

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