Using the Telephone to Improve Care in Childhood Asthma

Asthma morbidity is largely preventable with effective maintenance care. National guidelines recommend 1) daily treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) to prevent asthma symptoms and activity limitations, minimize acute exacerbations and maintain normal lung function; 2) early intervention guided by a written Asthma Action Plan for worsening symptoms;3) a partnership between the primary care provider, the patient and their family to develop shared treatment goals, select an appropriate treatment plan, resolve asthma-related concerns, and provide support for day-to-day care, and 4) periodic assessments (every 1 to 6 months) by the physician to monitor asthma control and assess if the goals of therapy are being met, with asthma self-management education provided at diagnosis and reinforced at every opportunity. Despite widespread dissemination of these guidelines, under-use of controller medications is pervasive, home management of an acute exacerbation is often delayed and inadequate, and only 50% of asthmatic children report maintenance care visits twice a year. Most primary care pediatricians do not provide education about use of preventive treatments or self-management behaviors citing lack of confidence in their ability to effect change, logistical issues such as lack of time, educational materials, support staff, and inadequate reimbursement as significant barriers to these activities. Practical, efficient interventions to improve maintenance asthma care in office-practice are needed.

In response to complaints from community pediatricians in our practice-based research network that few children with persistent asthma used their controller medications as prescribed we collaborated with local asthma experts and the telephone triage service at our children's hospital to develop and evaluate a 12-month telephone-coaching program to provide education and support to parents to improve asthma self-management for their children. The Telephone Asthma Program (TAP) was provided in addition to usual care, and was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

The TAP program was based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change developed by James Prochaska. This model postulates a series of 5 ordered stages of readiness to change to a desired behavior (Precontemplation, Contemplation, Preparation, Action and Maintenance). The desired behaviors for TAP were: 1) using controller medications as prescribed, 2) administering rescue medications at the child's first signs of an asthma exacerbation, 3) having an up-to-date asthma action plan readily available for all who may need it, and 4) having a collaborative relationship with the child's PCP that included regular asthma check-up visits at least every 6 months. Our goal was that all 4 behaviors would be addressed by the coach for each parent throughout the 12-month program period. Guided by computerized telephone protocols the coach provided tailored care advice appropriate for the parent's stage of readiness for behavior change. In this way, the coach could provide education and support to help the parent to provide effective asthma care at home for their child, and supplement the care provided by the physician.