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Reopening a Dialog on Open Airways for Schools: Closing the Educational Gap Using a Multi-Site Academic-Practice Partnership

Diamond-Caravella, Monica L, Diamond-Caravella

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Nursing Practice , Case Western Reserve University, School of Nursing.
Background: Asthma is a serious public health concern for children. Prevalence rates are at epidemic proportions in minority pediatric populations with alarming disparate rates for emergency department visits and hospitalizations. School based asthma education is a viable intervention to address barriers to asthma control and improve self management skills. Steeped in rich historical evidence, Open Airways for Schools is the leading school based asthma self management program to date. Although schools have been identified as the ideal environment to provide asthma self management education to children, there are notable and extensive barriers to effective implementation. This prevailing educational gap precludes the ability to adopt recommended school based asthma education. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to use existing data to determine the effectiveness of Open Airways for Schools in improving asthma self management and self knowledge skills in public elementary school children residing in high needs communities receiving instruction by trained nursing student Open Airways for Schools facilitators within a multi site academic practice partnership. Methodology: The creation of a multi site academic practice partnership served to address the educational gap by leveraging resources between a local asthma coalition, three baccalaureate nursing programs and several high needs public school districts on Long Island, New York. As a result of this enduring academic practice partnership, a data set of 377 existing validated pre and post-test Open Airways questionnaires was collected between September 2013 and December 2015 but never analyzed for significance. Findings: In this one group pretest/posttest design for existing data, paired t test analyses revealed statistically significant improvement for both asthma self management skills and self knowledge (p = .000). Greatest increases for asthma self management included the ability to avoid triggers, manage variable asthma symptoms and access appropriate treatment. Greatest increases for asthma self knowledge were associated with recognizing an asthma attack, preventing worsening symptoms and the ability to accurately identify asthma triggers. Conclusion: Open Airways for Schools is an effective school based asthma management program that significantly improves asthma self management skills and self knowledge. A sustainable multi site academic practice partnership is a viable solution to address the gap in asthma education for children living in priority high needs school communities. The novel addition of nursing students as Open Airways facilitators and drivers of effective school based asthma management education has not been identified in the literature to date. Results serve as evidence that an academic practice partnership can support effective school based asthma self management programs, operationalize closing the educational gap for children with asthma and strengthen innovative clinical nursing education opportunities.
Deborah Lindell, DNP, MSN, RN, CNE, ANEF (Committee Chair)
246 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Diamond-Caravella, Diamond-Caravella, M. L. (2017). Reopening a Dialog on Open Airways for Schools: Closing the Educational Gap Using a Multi-Site Academic-Practice Partnership [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casednp1512210590712455

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Diamond-Caravella, Diamond-Caravella, Monica. Reopening a Dialog on Open Airways for Schools: Closing the Educational Gap Using a Multi-Site Academic-Practice Partnership . 2017. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casednp1512210590712455.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Diamond-Caravella, Diamond-Caravella, Monica. "Reopening a Dialog on Open Airways for Schools: Closing the Educational Gap Using a Multi-Site Academic-Practice Partnership ." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=casednp1512210590712455

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)