Ten Years of Collaboration in Asthma Education in China

For ten years, the Center has worked in collaboration with the Beijing Heart, Lung and Blood Vessel Institute, Capital Institute of Pediatrics, and the Tianjin Center for Disease Control and Prevention to make available to children in China a proven program for enhancing asthma outcomes. Drs. Noreen Clark, Molly Gong, and Harvey Leo recently met with Drs. Yu Zhi Chen, Zhaosu Wu, Jiang Guohong, and other health leaders to celebrate the success of this collaboration.

The asthma education program focuses on elementary school students aged from 6 to 11 years of age and was designed to enable children to:

• take measures to prevent asthma attacks,
• identify asthma symptoms and take proper action steps,
• discuss with parents, doctors, teachers and friends problems related to asthma,
• have more confidence in controlling their illness in daily life.

Over the years, the collaboration has received generous support from the Thrasher Fund (for adapting and testing the asthma education) and LDS Humanitarian Services (for developing dissemination models and supporting wider dissemination of the education).

In October 2011, the Center handed off the evidence-based program to Chinese institutions who will make it available to large numbers of children across the country using dissemination models also tested in the collaboration.

Translation of U.S. Program to China

The asthma education was initially adapted from a U.S. version and subsequently assessed in 21 Beijing elementary schools. Evaluation illustrated that children had improved asthma outcomes related to asthma management, school performance, home environments, and health care use.

Development of Models for Dissemination

Shunyi District, Beijing: Working with the Capital Institute of Pediatrics and the Shunyi District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a model was developed for disseminating the program. In a test of the model, the program reached 27,000 students, 6 to 11 yrs old, enrolled in the first to the fifth grade in 42 schools. A total of 110 physicians from district hospitals, community hospitals, and community health stations were trained in clinical aspects of asthma to be able to build on and support families learning about the condition through the program. In addition, 185 district health officers, school leaders, and school health education teachers participated in asthma education workshops. 

Tianjin: With the Tianjin Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a second dissemination model was developed. In this approach, the CDC worked with leaders of the Tianjin Province School District to integrate the program into the required health curriculum in elementary schools. As part of the initial dissemination, health and school professionals were trained in program delivery. The program reached 26 elementary schools throughout the province reaching a total of 38,565 students.  Community clinicians also received training to support the families whose children take part in the program. The Tianjin model ensures that the asthma education will continue to reach children attending provincial elementary schools.  

Asthma Education Handed On for Dissemination

As a result of the long standing collaboration in China, it is estimated that approaching 1,000,000 people are better equipped to manage asthma and lend support to families living with the condition. Ongoing program dissemination by Chinese institutions will help an increasing number of children into the future.