Two-year results from the asthma self-management program: Long-term impacton health care services, costs, functional status, and productivity

Participants in a variety of health plans, clinics and employer groups were invited to participate in the Asthma Self-Management Program (ASMP), an ed ucation program designed to improve self-management skills and daily functi oning in individuals with asthma. The ASMP is an 8-week classroom program t hat provides information on the respiratory system, trigger avoidance, use of monitoring techniques and asthma medications. After program completion, graduates were contacted at scheduled intervals to reinforce performance of behaviors that are important to asthma self-management and to collect outc omes data. This paper reports the results of 2 years of follow-up with thes e individuals.