Asthma Affects, Essay Example

Asthma affects every aspect of people’s lives. According to the CDC1, in 2009, asthma resulted in almost half a million hospitalizations, and 1.9 million emergency department visits. The long term condition of asthma, affecting respiratory organs of individuals can be self-managed, however, there is a need for public health education programs in order to equip patients with the knowledge and practical tools to improve their own quality of life. This intervention could significantly reduce the number of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and consequently improve patient outcomes. The author of the below review will focus on Home-Based, Multi-Trigger, Multicomponent Interventions2 in order to evaluate their effectiveness in helping patients manage their condition at home, and make some environmental and lifestyle changes that would improve their health outcomes.

Method

The below research is reviewing three related peer-reviewed articles that are focused on the same intervention method, in order to evaluate their impact on long term patient outcomes and quality of life.

The Impact of Environment

Ideas for home based intervention to educate patients and help them manage their chronic condition has been expressed in three various studies, all stating that the community health approach, combined with home visits can result in increased coping ability of patients, and reduced risk of hospitalization or asthma attacks.

Return on Investment

Lamb et al.3 Found that home based and community based interventions have a high ROI (return on investment), therefore, they can help health care providers reduce their costs associated with treating patients with chronic conditions. As the authors state, “researchers found that home-based interventions with an environmental focus had ROIs ranging from $5.30 to $14.00 for every dollar invested”4.The above statement is confirmed by the research of Tursynbek et al., as well. Highlighting the fact that the multi-approach interventions have a higher than average efficiency, and they cost around $231–$14,858 per year per patient. This compared with the cost of hospitalization and A&E admission is considered to be low.

Identifying triggers

Community programs also have the ability to identify risk factors originating from environmental and social inequalities, such as stress, violence, crime, smoking in the house, asbestos at home or school, or mold. Identifying triggers and educating patients about them is believed to have a positive impact on long term health outcomes.

Reducing Morbidity

Crocker et al.5 focused on the relationship between reducing asthma triggers and reducing asthma related morbidity. The peer-reviewed article lists several intervention components that are recommended to be implemented in community-based and home-based asthma prevention programs. Another study by Tursynbek et al.6 also focused on the morbidity reduction effect of community based health care education programs, and their costs. The research found that asthma self-management education and environmental education, in collaboration with social services and educators helped reduce morbidity risks among patients.

Self-management education

One of the main aspects of evidence-based asthma interventions was found to be patient education. Self-management education is believed to be helpful in supporting patients in monitoring their condition, and learning more about the triggers and the condition itself. Environmental education is also believed to be one of the main required areas that programs should cover in order to empower patients to deal with their condition according to the latest research results. The described Multi-Trigger, Multicomponent, Home-Based Environmental Interventions focus on more than one element of the condition, therefore, the approach is likely to deliver better outcomes for patients than single-approach programs. The research focusing on related studies found that patients’ quality of life, health care utilization, productivity, and psychologic outcomes all improved as a result of the intervention.

Social and Emotional Support

The above study also found that additional benefits can be gained from introducing the multi-trigger approach into practice within communities, such as improved work and family relationships, better energy efficiency of homes, the discovery of low economic status and risk status, smoking cessation, and the reduction of indoor pollutants. Patients who learned how to manage their conditions became more confident and emotionally secure, as they were less anxious about getting an asthma attack.

Results

The results of the above research of related literature has found that evidence-based community, environmental, and patient education intervention programs do not only help patients manage their conditions more effectively, but also have a high return on investment ration, and this means that every dollar spent on these programs delivers $5.30–$14.00 health care benefits in cost savings. This means that multi-approach, multi-trigger comprehensive programs for preventing hospitalization and serious attacks should be utilized by health care professionals more extensively, in order to improve patients’ life quality, emotional well-being, while reducing the risk of morbidity among those who suffer from this chronic condition.

Discussion

Evidence-based approaches to develop community health education programs should be based on effectiveness and ROI assessment delivered through related literature. The above reviewed research studies came to the same conclusion: multi-approach (environmental, lifestyle, housing, social services, and educational) programs deliver multiple benefits. Apart from reducing morbidity rates among patients, the programs will deliver long term positive outcomes for the millions of asthma sufferers in the United States, while saving the health care budget potentially millions of dollars by reducing emergency visits, hospitalizations, and asthma-related physician visits.

[i] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Asthma’s impact on the nation: Data from the CDC National Asthma Control Program.” (2013).

[i] Crocker, Deidre D., Stella Kinyota, Gema G. Dumitru, Colin B. Ligon, Elizabeth J. Herman, Jill M. Ferdinands, David P. Hopkins, Briana M. Lawrence, Theresa A. Sipe, and Task Force on Community Preventive Services. “Effectiveness of home-based, multi-trigger, multicomponent interventions with an environmental focus for reducing asthma morbidity: a community guide systematic review.” American journal of preventive medicine 41, no. 2 (2011): S5-S32.

[i] Lamb, A., Ervice, J., Peters, J. When Asthma Management Isn’t Enough: Reducing The Burden Of Childhood Asthma: From Practice To Policy. Big Ideas 2015. Pioneering Change. Innovative ideas for Children and Families. (2015)

[i] Lamb, A., Ervice, J., Peters, J. When Asthma Management Isn’t Enough: Reducing The Burden Of Childhood Asthma: From Practice To Policy. Big Ideas 2015. Pioneering Change. Innovative ideas for Children and Families. (2015 p. 144

[i] Crocker, Deidre D., Stella Kinyota, Gema G. Dumitru, Colin B. Ligon, Elizabeth J. Herman, Jill M. Ferdinands, David P. Hopkins, Briana M. Lawrence, Theresa A. Sipe, and Task Force on Community Preventive Services. “Effectiveness of home-based, multi-trigger, multicomponent interventions with an environmental focus for reducing asthma morbidity: a community guide systematic review.” American journal of preventive medicine 41, no. 2 (2011): S5-S32.

[i]  Nurmagambetov, Tursynbek A., Sarah Beth L. Barnett, Verughese Jacob, Sajal K. Chattopadhyay, David P. Hopkins, Deidre D. Crocker, Gema G. Dumitru, Stella Kinyota, and Task Force on Community Preventive Services. “Economic value of home-based, multi-trigger, multicomponent interventions with an environmental focus for reducing asthma morbidity: a Community Guide systematic review.” American journal of preventive medicine 41, no. 2 (2011): S33-S47.