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Kits Are For Kids!

Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America

Center for Interprofessional Education and Research

Interprofessional Community Practicum Experience

IPE 4900 – FALL 2020

Team #8: Anna Conneely (Physical Therapy), Rosemary Jacobs (Occupational Therapy), Madison Staples (Physical Therapy),

Olivia Weimer (Nursing), Lyzza Flora (Nursing), Samantha Farrel (Nursing), and Amanda Regina Silva (Nursing)

REFERENCES

SETTING

Agency Name: Asthma and Allergy Foundation

Target Population: Children 18 and under that have asthma and/or allergies in the St. Louis region.

Description of Services: Educate the greater St. Louis public and health care providers in St. Louis with the use of educational kits offered by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation to children under 18 who have recently been diagnosed with asthma and allergies.

Mission: The Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America, St. Louis Chapter serves those affected by asthma and allergies through education, support and resources.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Agency-Identified Goal: The goal of the asthma and allergy foundation is to grant children 18 and under, with asthma, an asthma tool kit to ensure that rescue medications and teachings are always available.

Rationale: According to the article titled “Supported self-management for asthma” written by Pinnock, “people with long-term conditions need support from their healthcare professionals to enable them confidently to self-manage their care.” While talking about asthma and allergies in the youth of St. Louis, “Surveys suggests that, even in countries that have been proactive about recommending asthma self-management, three quarters of people living with asthma are managing their condition without the benefit of a written personalised asthma action plan” or a self-management program. Children need their health care providers and education on their conditions, and these asthma kits can help that! By providing these self-management education tools, we can be more proactive about asthma self-management and create a more personalized approach to these chronic conditions. “... to be effective this requires a whole systems approach which considers implementation from the perspective of patient education and resources, professional skills and motivation and organisation priorities and routines,” is SO important. These kits ARE this systematic approach to how we can help motivate and prioritize asthma and allergies.

HP2030 Topic & Objective:

Topic: Respiratory Disease

Objective: Reduce hospitalizations for asthma in people aged 5 to 64 years -- RD-D02

Activities:

Researching locations such as health clinics and doctors’ offices for AAFA to reach out to in regards to the flyer.
Creating an informational flyer to advertise free kits provided by AAFA that contain education pamphlets and resources.
Create a QR for easy access to an application receive a free kits from AAFA.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

SMART Objective 1: MET

Outcome: We compiled a list of 30 health care offices and other possible consumers in the areas by October 13. This list has been shared with the community partner and she said that her team will be reaching out to their partners.

SMART Objective 2: MET

Outcome: We created a flyer that contained information about the kit and how to receive more information if wanted. We made this flyer and shared it with our community partner by 11/3. Our community partner provided feedback so that we could make the flyer even better.

SMART Objective 3: NOT MET

Outcome: The community partner decided that they would be reaching out to offices and conducting a survey on their own time in the future. Our responsibilities for this project were more focused on making the flyer that the foundation can distribute.

REFLECTION

We learned how difficult it can be to obtain all supplies needed for a child with an asthma or allergy condition and how these kits are important.
We also learned how important it is to utilize and know the sources around you that could be of use to you, especially with health care.
It was eye opening for us to see how many people have asthma and allergies in the St. Louis community and how important patient education is.
We were also made aware of how many organizations and resources are available in the local community, especially AFFA.

FUTURE ACTIONS

It would be beneficial for future groups to have the kit and its contents in their possession in order gain a proper understanding of what they are working with.
While taking the results of the survey, depend on the outcome, utilize these results for future implementation.

SMART OBJECTIVES

Compile a list of 30 health care offices and possible consumers in the Metro-East part of St. Louis regarding the kits by October 13th.
Create a flyer for the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America to utilize in their outreach to possible consumers by November 3rd.
10 doctor’s offices/schools in the metro east part of St. Louis will fill out a survey that states whether or not the asthma kits were beneficial a year after distribution.