(Chest. 1999;116:200S-201S.)
© 1999
American College of Chest Physicians
The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago's Asthma Program*
Mary Beth Feeney;
Linda Kopecky, MPH;
Loretta Walker;
Seth Feldman and
Deborah daBalos
*
From The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago (Mss. Feeney, Kopecky, and DaBalos), Chicago, IL.
Correspondence to: Deborah daBalos, Community Services, American Red Cross of Greater Chicago, 111 E Wacker Dr, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60601
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Introduction
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The
American Red Cross is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to
provide relief for victims of disaster and help people prevent, prepare
for, and respond to emergencies. Within the larger organization is the
Community Services Department, focused on helping people lead
healthier, safer lives. The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago
serves the city and surrounding seven-county area. This chapter is a
pioneer of sorts, in that they are the only chapter to have developed
an asthma program in addition to the other standard programs.
The American Red Cross of Greater Chicago's interest in asthma
began in 1997, with a grant from the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial
Institute. The focus was to develop and implement a health educator
training program for clinical staff and educators located in areas of
high risk for asthma, including the following neighborhoods: Austin,
Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, Chatham, Auburn, West Englewood, and West
Palmer. One of the goals of the Red Cross is to help communities become
self-sufficient. So they adopted a "pyramid approach," whereby
instructors from the Red Cross would train individuals at local clinics
who would in turn try to reach as many people as possible.
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Designing the Program
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Because this was the first Red Cross asthma program, the
staff members at the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago were
responsible for its conceptual design as well as its implementation.
The staff reviewed many of the asthma education products already
available; however, none seemed to fit their vision. They wanted a
program that was family oriented and that placed emphasis on dispelling
the fears of asthma for both parents and children. Although they
realized much of the general content might be similar, the staff worked
with the Chicago Asthma Consortium so as not to directly replicate
other asthma education programs already in place in the Chicago area.
Ultimately, they designed a program of three modules—each 45 min to
1 h in length. The first module focuses on taking care of the home
environment. The second teaches signs and symptoms of asthma, and the
last module focuses on medications and management. The modules can be
delivered separately or all together. They also designed a workbook for
children, illustrated by a local teen with asthma. In keeping with the
"train-the-trainer" approach to this project, they also designed an
8-h instructor and trainer course and guidebook.
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Implementation
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The next step was to initiate monthly educator training sessions
that were advertised mainly through the Chicago Asthma Consortium.
Unlike other Red Cross programs, the trainer course is not open to the
general public. Rather, it is targeted to health educators, respiratory
therapists, nurses, and physicians with some prior experience in health
education. After completing the course, the instructors are given
materials, and they then implement the program back at their community
clinics. The program is intended to supplement the information given by
the doctor. In most cases, families are identified at the time of the
initial visit for asthma. The family is then scheduled for a subsequent
visit or series of visits with the health educator to administer the
modules of the asthma program. Many times, the education sessions are
planned to coincide with the next scheduled visit. To evaluate the
program, the trainers administer before and after testing. This
consists of a brief survey given to the families before and after the
program.
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Conclusion
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The first year of the asthma initiative at the American Red
Cross of Greater Chicago was one of tremendous accomplishment: not only
did they successfully develop a new asthma education program and
accompanying instructor training course, they also trained 35 health
educators who in turn reached 75 families. Unfortunately, not all
identified families take advantage of the program, even though it poses
no cost to the patient. The instructors also find that it has been a
challenge to get the posttests returned via mail or follow-up clinic
visit. The Red Cross staff members realize that the evaluation
component of their program needs further development, and they are
currently exploring options for measuring the outcomes of their
efforts.
The Red Cross looks forward to expanding "pyramid-style" until they
reach all the targeted communities within the Chicago-area. In 1999,
they hope to train 48 new educators and to reach 525 families. Next
year, the Greater Chicago chapter will present the asthma program to
the American Red Cross, National Headquarters. If well received, it
could become a standard component of all chapters throughout the
country.
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Footnotes
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This project was funded by a grant from the Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial
Institute.
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Introduction
Designing the Program
