Asthma disease management: A worksite-based asthma education program. Disease Management ; Program Description: Asthma accounts for an estimated 3 million workdays lost each year in the United States and for reduced worker productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate a relatively low-cost managed care organization, worksite-based, employee education program designed to improve control of asthma in workers. The benefit to employees was learning the value and importance of optimal management and the elements of self-care.
Benefits to the employer included the prospect of increased productivity reflecting a potential reduction in absences from work and impaired work performance, enhanced employee morale, and decreased medical claims. Before entering the program, each participant completed a computerized health-risk appraisal that elicited behavioral and other health information and included measurements of blood pressure, serum cholesterol, and height and weight to calculate body mass index.
The FirstAir Asthma Education Program consisted of five weekly 1-hour sessions conducted during lunch hours. A trained clinical asthma nurse specialist conducted the sessions.
Topics included symptoms of asthma; recognition of triggers and warning signs of asthmatic attacks; medications and other treatments for asthma; use and care of peak flow meters, nebulizers, and metered-dose inhalers; handling of emergencies; and ways to keep an asthma diary. Participants were given incentives to encourage completion of the program including a free lunch at every session, a free 1-year subscription to Asthma Magazine , a wellness tote bag filled with educational materials, a copy of the book How to Outsmart Your Allergies , and a drawing for a number of items useful for people with asthma.
Participants completed the ATAQ at baseline, at the end of the 2-month program, and 4 and 12 months after the program. These barriers were the study outcome measures. The sum of responses on the ATAQ to these four questions created the control barrier score which ranged from 0 to 4. As a result of the intervention, ATAQ scores significantly improved. The mean score for control barriers showed a positive trend, declining from 1. The number of participants who reported using asthma controller medication on a daily basis also increased significantly.
