While great strides have been made to ensure children have access to proper asthma care in their home and community, linking those environments to the care that children receive while in school has been a challenge. In a new study, researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) demonstrate that community health workers can play a critical role in integrating all environments where children encounter asthma triggers, and care coordination provided by these workers may be a cost-effective way to achieve that. The findings were recently published in JAMA Pediatrics .
There are persistent and concerning disparities in rates of asthma among American children. Black children, for example, have a hospitalization rate three times higher, and a death rate seven times higher, than their white counterparts. However, asthma symptoms can vary for children at different times of the day in different environments .
While they may be able to control symptoms at home, children may encounter triggers at school like mice or dusty shelves that can exacerbate their symptoms. Prior studies have confirmed the impact that community health workers—specially trained lay people who work with local hospital systems and community organizations in both rural and urban communities—can have to help improve asthma control by closing gaps with evidence-based interventions. However, linking the care among different settings—homes, schools, primary care offices and surrounding communities—an.
