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SMART (Student Media-based Asthma Research Team): Engaging Adolescents to Understand Asthma in Their Communities
- Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 10, Issue 4, Winter 2016
- pp. 523-532
- 10.1353/cpr.2016.0060
- Article
- Additional Information
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Abstract:
Background: Asthma rates in Chicago exceed national averages and disproportionately affect minority adolescents. We collaborated with students in a neighborhood with high asthma prevalence to better understand community factors impacting asthma.
Objectives: To evaluate the impact of our Student Media-based Asthma Research Team (SMART) program on student, parent, and student-peer outcomes related to asthma.
Methods: Students with asthma (n = 11), their parents (n = 9), and student-peers (n = 91) participated in a school-based asthma intervention grounded in community-based participatory research (CBPR) principles and completed multiple pre-/post-intervention questionnaires.
Results: After the program, participants significantly increased (p < 0.05) asthma-related quality of life (QOL), asthma control, emotional support, and empowerment. Parents significantly increased their QOL and student-peers showed significant improvements in asthma knowledge.
Conclusions: This novel intervention—which used participatory media as a vehicle through which children learn about their own asthma and share their findings with parents and peers—was successful in engaging adolescents to improve asthma management and community support.