The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Community Asthma Prevention Program

Overview

Asthma is the most common chronic illness diagnosed in children, and it’s the number one diagnosis for admission at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In urban Philadelphia, approximately one out of five children has asthma. The Community Asthma Prevention Program of Philadelphia (CAPP) currently provides effective community-based services to children who have asthma and their families. CAPP’s major objective is to provide a comprehensive, community-based program that eliminates barriers and promotes an optimal learning environment for asthma education.

The goals of CAPP are to: (1) increase asthma knowledge and improve self-management behavior; (2) improve quality of life for children with asthma; and (3) train members of the community to teach their peers about asthma. Active for more than 10 years, CAPP has offered free asthma education classes in community-based locations since its inception. Services now include Home Visiting, Primary Care Education, Education for School Professionals, and Student Asthma classes in public and charter Schools.

Impact

Since the program’s inception, more than 3,000 caregivers and children have participated in CAPP community asthma classes in English and Spanish. Approximately 85 community sites have hosted these classes, and multiple sustainable community sites have been established. The home visits have been effective in reducing hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and asthma symptoms. In the primary care program, analysis shows significant improvement in all four best practices including improved severity classification, improved controller medication use, improved use of asthma action plans, and improved use of spirometry in the office as compared with baseline. To date, hundreds of children have participated in the school program. These multifaceted efforts combine to increase knowledge, improve asthma control, and improve quality of life for individuals with asthma.

Challenges/success factors

Engaging sites and maintaining flexible schedules for classes can prove challenging. For the home visit program, maintaining safety for home visitors and scheduling around caregivers’ availability requires constant monitoring. By working with numerous community partners, CAPP is able to reach a broad population and educate children, parents, professionals, and providers.

Future direction/sustainability

CAPP classes and home visits are currently supported by grants from the Merck Company Foundation. As part of the Merck Company Foundation’s Merck Childhood Asthma Initiative, CAPP is expanding home visiting and community classes to areas of the city that were not previously served – neighborhoods in South, Northwest, and Northeast Philadelphia.

Advice to others

Reaching the highest number of people and providing needed education and services requires engaging and cultivating relationships with an array of community partners.

Contact: Tyra Bryant-Stephens, MD
Director and Founder, Community Asthma Prevention Program
Telephone: 215-590-5020
E-mail: stephenst@email.chop.edu