EDUCATING YOUNG-CHILDREN ABOUT ASTHMA - COMPARING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF A DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE ASTHMA EDUCATION VIDEO TAPE AND PICTURE BOOK

Asthma self-management programmes have been shown to increase children 's knowledge about asthma and improve their management practices and h ealth status. However, existing programmes have rarely addressed the u nique learning needs of very young children. This study aimed to devel op and assess the effectiveness of a video tape and picture book desig ned to teach children about the prevention and management of acute epi sodes of asthma. The information content of the educational resources was determined by analysis of relevant medical information and asthma management skills. Social Learning Theory and consideration of the dev elopmental stage of the target population informed the format and styl e of presentation of the resources. Eighty children aged between 2 and 5 years who had been diagnosed with asthma by their medical practitio ner and who required daily asthma medication participated in a control led experimental study. The study evaluated the impact of the asthma e ducation resources on children's knowledge about asthma, compliance wi th medication regimens and health status. Children were randomly alloc ated to one of three experimental groups. Children in these groups wer e exposed to either the video tape alone, the book alone or both the v ideo tape and book, or to a control group who viewed materials unrelat ed to asthma. The results for the three experimental groups were compa red with the control group who did not receive exposure to any of the asthma education resources, The results showed that children in each e xperimental group had significantly greater gains in asthma-related kn owledge than children in the control group and children exposed to bot h resources showed the greatest increases In knowledge. Children In ea ch of the three experimental groups also had better compliance rand he alth than children in the control group, These findings indicate that carefully designed asthma education resources are useful for providing even the youngest children with information about asthma and its mana gement.