Telehealth Education for Pediatric Asthma Management

Objectives: Asthma education is essential for every pediatric asthma management plan. This Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Quality Improvement (QI) project, guided by the Social Cognitive Theory, aims to explore effective and innovative interventions for asthma management and determine if telehealth is an effective way to deliver asthma education to parents. Methods: Parents (n = 5) of children with asthma at an urban pediatric primary care clinic were recruited to attend four weekly, 60-minute asthma education sessions over Zoom®. Participants were recruited with flyers and clinic referrals. Participants answered pre- and post-intervention online questionnaires following informed consent, including the Parental Asthma Management Self-Efficacy Scale (PAMSES), the Asthma Control Test (ACT), and a parent program evaluation. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to analyze data and measure mean differences in pre-and post-parent self-efficacy and asthma control in their child. Results: The results include a statistically significant change in pre-intervention and post-intervention mean PAMSES scores. There was no significant difference between pre-intervention and post-intervention ACT scores; however, there was an increase in mean ACT scores from baseline. Conclusions: Telehealth is a practical and cost-effective way to address gaps in asthma education and improve patient outcomes. The use of telehealth may be an effective way to address gaps in parent/patient education regarding the prevention of and management of asthma symptoms. Ongoing assessment is needed to evaluate if asthma telehealth education can be effective in other settings, languages, and age groups.