Design and implementation of a patient education center for the childhood asthma management program

Objectives: To design, develop, and distribute asthma education materials r elevant to the Childhood Asthma Management Program (CAMP), a National Heart , Lung and Blood Institute sponsored comprehensive clinical trial. This tri al is designed to evaluate the relative efficacy of three treatment strateg ies on asthma control, and lung growth and development in children with ast hma. Approach: A Patient Education Center (PEC) was established to prepare CAMP- specific asthma educational materials that would promote consistent impleme ntation of the CAMP protocol, adherence to study medications and record kee ping requirements and retention in the trial. The PEC has the responsibilit y to design the asthma education program and to provide support to the stud y clinical center coordinators/educators who maintain direct and ongoing co ntact with the participants. Participants: A total of 1,041 children with asthma age 5 through 12 years were enrolled in the trial between November 1993 and September 1995 at 8 cl inical centers. Process: The three major tenets of self-management were highlighted in the CAMP patient education program: anticipate problems before they arise, dete rmine the appropriate responses, and rehearse and practice behaviors that a re effective solutions. CAMP education was standardized across centers to p rovide consistency in the implementation of the protocol. The program was s tructured to be comprehensive in order to address the various issues encoun tered by the participants and their caretakers, including background inform ation on asthma and asthma therapy, instructions on following the study pro tocol (taking medication and monitoring symptoms and peak flow), and clear steps for handling asthma exacerbations. Materials were prepared in the for m of handouts, handbooks, and videos. Instructional manuals were also prepa red on the use of these materials for the nurse coordinators at each clinic al center. Conclusions: The CAMP approach to asthma education was planned with the rea lization that patient education is essential to successful treatment and mu st be fully integrated into the patient's routine care. The CAMP education materials are readily available in a national repository and could be used for asthma education programs in a practice setting or another clinical res earch effort.