Do you have a child with asthma? If so, you may want to apply for one of 10 $2,500 savings bonds for your child's education. The Everyone Breathe Asthma Education Grant program, sponsored by Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is offering these awards “to help improve the quality of asthma care and educate students about asthma.” The deadline is July 29, 2011 to submit your application on their website: http://www.everyonebreathe.com. The program will also award a $5,000 grant to the school of each winner to improve asthma care and education. Fifty second-place winners will receive asthma nebulizer kits. The website features a video by spokesperson Mary Joe Fernandez, tennis champion and Olympic gold medalist. Fernandez has lived with asthma for most of her life, and is also the mother of a child with asthma.
Parents will need to create an account on the Everyone Breathe website in order to apply for an educational grant. The sponsor offers an email address for questions: AsthmaAwards@Sunovion.com. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1953, is a partner in the award program. They offer more information about asthma, including how to find support groups, on their website http://www.aafa.org.
Asthma education reduces the numbers of hospitalizations and emergency room visits for children, according to a study published by Janet M. Coffman, MPP, PhD, and colleagues at the University of California. Their meta-analysis of 37 studies showed that a wide variety of educational interventions can improve the management of asthma. The educational programs ranged from just one session to as many as 90 sessions in a period of 12 months or more. Methods included individual education, group classes, and computer programs. More research is needed to compare the cost-effectiveness of various programs, Coffman reported. However, the cost of treating asthma is clearly reduced when fewer emergency room visits and hospital days are needed.
School-based asthma education programs are not yet as consistently effective as those based in physician offices or outpatient clinics, Coffman reported in a follow-up paper. She concluded, “greater efforts are needed to improve the health of the growing numbers of children with asthma by creatively disseminating self-management education programs.”
References:
1. Coffman JM et al, “Effects of asthma education on children's use of acute care services: A meta-analysis”, Pediatrics 2008; 121: 575-586.
2. Coffman JM et al, “Do school-based asthma education programs improve self-management and health outcomes?” Pediatrics 2009; 124: 729-742.
Linda Fugate is a scientist and writer in Austin, Texas. She has a Ph.D. in Physics and an M.S. in Macromolecular Science and Engineering. Her background includes academic and industrial research in materials science. She currently writes song lyrics and health articles.