The purpose of this SBIR is to produce and test an educational videotape for inner-city (largely minority) children with asthma and their parents. Despite improvements in medical treatment, morbidity, and mortality from asthma in the United States has been increasing and urban populations appear to be disproportionately affected. Asthma management in these families presents unique challenges complicated by a variety of socioeconomic factors, including access to health care, poor home environments with high allergen exposures, and low levels of education. Few educational materials which teach self-management skills to children in a manner that meets the special needs of this population have been developed. We propose to develop a home-based, asthma education videotape which will target a high risk group, with a content and manner of presentation which is tailored to the socioeconomic circumstances of inner-city families. The activities of Phase I included 1) development of content areas of the videotape; 2) production of a script for a 20-25 minute videotape; and 3) arrangements for production of the videotape.
The aims of Phase II are to produce the videotape in English and Spanish and evaluate its effectiveness on child and parent asthma-related knowledge. Two asthma education videotapes in English and Spanish will be available for mass production and distribution in Phase III.
