The Graduate School of City University Of New York and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons have joined efforts to investigate the effectiveness of an Asthma Self-Regulation Intervention Program utilizing an Family Coordinator who will facilitate behavioral change by families of Hispanic and African-American youths (4 to 19 years of age) with moderate to severe asthma to improve their self-regulatory capability, their quality of life, and the health status of their children with asthma. These minority families, who live in a Latino section of New York City near Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, will be enrolled in the Ambulatory Care Network Corporation at Babies Hospital or associated practice sites. Prior research has revealed that many of the families experience difficulty in self-regulating their child's asthma at home. The Family Coordinator will provide not only general asthma education, but also intensive guidance and support to families as they implement individualized programs created in close partnership with family physicians to self-regulate their children's asthma. The proposed research will involve the development of new procedures for assessing families' stage of asthma regulation as well as for guiding them to the last stage, self-regulation of the child's disease. A controlled two group design will examine health outcomes of families receiving support from the coordinator with those of families given only regular physician care (the control). We hypothesize that (a) treatment families will display higher self-regulation, will feel greater self-efficacy about asthma, and will experience fewer daily disruptions from asthma, and (b) children of treatment families will have fewer symptom days, disability days, and trips for emergency care. Finally, it is expected that families will report a greater sense of partnership with their physician because of their close collaboration during this asthma intervention program.
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