| Asthma is a serious respiratory disease that is affected by environmental and psychological variables. Asthma education programs are used to reduce the morbidity associated with asthma and to teach people how to better manage their illness so that they might have a higher quality of life. Although much research has examined the effectiveness of asthma education programs within the Caucasian community, no research has been done to see if asthma education programs are effective in the Hispanic community. This study examined the effects of an asthma education program directed towards three Spanish-speaking parents of children, 7--17 years old, who were diagnosed with asthma. Participants were recruited from local health clinics with written advertisements and were given a monetary reward for their participation in the study. This study was a series of AB designs with staggered baselines, as well as pre and post testing. The pretests and posttests include translated checklists that measure knowledge, self-efficacy, symptoms, problem behaviors, and quality of life of caretakers of children with asthma. Data were also collected on the number of doctor visits and asthma attacks. Treatment consisted of a 2-hr asthma education intervention in Spanish for the parents and caretakers of asthmatic children. It was expected that symptoms, number of doctor visits, number of asthma attacks, and problem behaviors would decline and that knowledge, self-efficacy and quality of life would increase for each of the participants. Only parent knowledge of asthma management techniques increased significantly after the implementation of the treatment. Implications of the study are discussed. |
