$4M grant to improve asthma care for So Cal Latino youth

A team led by researchers at San Diego State University has been awarded $4 million to enhance asthma education and treatment strategies in California's Imperial Valley, where children are twice as likely as the national average to suffer from asthma.

The grant will allow researchers to better understand the specific asthma needs of Imperial Valley's largely Latino/Latina population, as well as develop more effective approaches to treatment for families, communities, and physicians.

Approximately 4.5 million African-Americans and 3.6 million Hispanics and Latinos/Latinas in the U.S. had asthma in 2010. Children from these populations are less likely to be prescribed asthma treatment, and they are also less likely to follow prescribed treatment regiments. In 2012, Imperial County children visited emergency clinics with uncontrolled asthma twice as frequently as other children in California. Approximately 75 percent of those children are Latino.

Asthma control is influenced by many factors, including how well the child and his or her family manage the asthma, their use of health care services, and the environment in which they live.

This month marks the start of a new research project funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). PCORI has awarded $4 million to John Elder, Ph.D., and Guadalupe X. Ayala, Ph.D, of SDSU's Institute for Behavioral and Community Health, as well as its partners Clínicas de Salud del Pueblo, Inc., Comité Cívico del Valle, Inc., and the California Department of Public Health's California Breathing program, to study ways to decrease rates of uncontrolled asthma among Latino children in Imperial County. Imperial County was among eight sites across the U.S. selected to receive PCORI funding targeting better asthma control among Hispanics/Latinos and African-Americans.

Improve control, minimize complications

The Imperial County asthma research project, also known as the Imperial County Asthma CER Project, will evaluate a multifaceted approach to improve asthma control and minimize complications among children with asthma. This collaborative will work to improve patients', families' and healthcare providers' adherence to treatment guidelines. Community health workers will visit families' homes to develop tailored asthma management strategies and help families identify ways to control environmental triggers. A school program and a communications campaign will inform Imperial County communities about air quality and how to adjust indoor and outdoor activities to prevent adverse health outcomes, such as asthma episodes.

"Parents assume their kids can manage a lot more of their care on their own than may be true," Ayala said. "We need to train kids how to be self-dependent. That leads to better adherence, which leads to improved quality of life." She and Elder are professors at SDSU's Graduate School of Public Health.