Columbia Public Health Program Reduces Hospital Visits for Preschoolers With Asthma

' Sociomedical Sciences ' Research & Service ' Keeping Preschoolers with Asthma Out of the Hospital. Multi-Pronged Model for Managing Asthma in Preschoolers Leads to a Dramatic Drop in Emergency Room Visits and Hospitalizations Nearly one in eleven (8.6%) preschool children in the U.S. has been diagnosed with asthma and in some inner city neighborhoods, the figure is closer to one in seven. But, few asthma management programs are designed for parents of preschool children. The Asthma Basics for Children (ABC) program, established by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and a coalition of community service organizations, educators, parenting programs, and community pediatric providers, addressed this need with a multi-layered approach that offers educational activities to parents and children in 31 Northern Manhattan daycare centers as well as training to community pediatric providers. Following participation in the program, 85% percent of parents reported reducing their child's asthma triggers. The percent of children with asthma-related visits to emergency departments declined sharply from 74% to 47%, as did asthma-related hospitalizations, dropping from 24% to 11%. Full study findings are published in the February 2011 - Journal of Urban Health.