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Patients & Consumers Conditions En Español Find an Allergist / Immunologist Just for Kids New Research Parent Resources Pollen Levels Publications Request a Speaker School Tools Seniors The Virtual Allergist™ Treatments Donate Now Search by Condition (A-Z) Search by Topic Allergy & Asthma Issues Educational Brochures Elements of Allergy and Asthma Order Public Education Materials Allergy Shots Drug Guide Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT)		JACI Highlights - January 2009 Community-based intervention may help adults with asthma improve coping skills and quality of life Molly A. Martin et al Low-income African American adults in Chicago have disproportionately high death and disease rates due to asthma. Interventions that improve asthma self-efficacy for appropriate self-management behaviors may ultimately improve asthma control in such a group. Self-efficacy is an individual’s ability to believe that he/she can be successful at performing a behavior or skill. Self-efficacy is thought to be an important factor for behavioral change related to asthma. This study, published in the January 2009 edition of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, reports on a pilot program testing an intervention to improve asthma self-efficacy for appropriate self-management behaviors. The intervention tested in this trial was based on theories of self-efficacy and social learning in which social/group persuasion, peer modeling, and repeated practice build desired skills and behaviors. Working with a small group of low-income African American Chicagoans with poorly controlled persistent asthma, this community-based asthma intervention resulted in improved asthma self-efficacy, self-perceived coping skills and asthma quality of life for the adult subjects who were assigned to the active intervention and participated in group sessions and home visits. Study participants who were randomized to a control group to only receive asthma education materials by mail did not demonstrate this improvement. The authors point out challenges and weaknesses of the study that will help future researchers studying intervention techniques. They have described a feasible community-based asthma self-management intervention specifically targeted to this highest-risk population. These results support the need and merit for a larger efficacy trial to assess the clinical benefits and costs.     <back>
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