TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and evaluation of an integrated asthma awareness curriculum for the elementary school classroom
AU - Pike, Emily V.
AU - Richmond, Colleen M.
AU - Hobson, Angela
AU - Kleiss, Jamie
AU - Wottowa, Jamie
AU - Sterling, David A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported in part through cooperative agreements with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Health and Human Services under program announcement 03030 to the St. Louis Regional Asthma Consortium, and the Missouri Asthma Prevention and Control Program supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cooperative Agreement number U59/ CCU720866.
PY - 2011/2
Y1 - 2011/2
N2 - Asthma is one of the most common causes of school absenteeism, and many children are affected by, or encounter, it in the school setting. An integrated curriculum that presents asthma as a real world example can raise all childrens awareness and understanding of asthma, not just those with the condition. A 15-lesson, asthma-based curriculum was developed to integrate with and enhance the core subjects of math, science, and communication arts. A pilot test was performed in fourth- and fifth-grade classes to assess student asthma knowledge gain, teacher acceptance, and grade appropriateness of the curriculum. During the 2006-2007 school year, 15 teachers were recruited from the St. Louis, MO, USA area to assess the curriculum through teaching and administering pre- and post-unit tests and completing a teacher evaluation for each lesson taught. Four additional classrooms served as comparisons. Paired t tests were used for each lesson taught, to evaluate pre-/post-test and classroom differences, and focus groups were used for qualitative evaluation. There was an increase in asthma knowledge between pre- and post-tests in both grades, individually and combined (p<0.001). Intervention post-test scores were higher than comparison classroom scores (p<0.001). Teacher feedback indicated that the lessons enhanced previously learned skills and increased students overall understanding of asthma. Offering asthma education in the classroom can provide an opportunity for all students to gain asthma knowledge and build health literacy about a leading chronic disease in school-aged children.
AB - Asthma is one of the most common causes of school absenteeism, and many children are affected by, or encounter, it in the school setting. An integrated curriculum that presents asthma as a real world example can raise all childrens awareness and understanding of asthma, not just those with the condition. A 15-lesson, asthma-based curriculum was developed to integrate with and enhance the core subjects of math, science, and communication arts. A pilot test was performed in fourth- and fifth-grade classes to assess student asthma knowledge gain, teacher acceptance, and grade appropriateness of the curriculum. During the 2006-2007 school year, 15 teachers were recruited from the St. Louis, MO, USA area to assess the curriculum through teaching and administering pre- and post-unit tests and completing a teacher evaluation for each lesson taught. Four additional classrooms served as comparisons. Paired t tests were used for each lesson taught, to evaluate pre-/post-test and classroom differences, and focus groups were used for qualitative evaluation. There was an increase in asthma knowledge between pre- and post-tests in both grades, individually and combined (p<0.001). Intervention post-test scores were higher than comparison classroom scores (p<0.001). Teacher feedback indicated that the lessons enhanced previously learned skills and increased students overall understanding of asthma. Offering asthma education in the classroom can provide an opportunity for all students to gain asthma knowledge and build health literacy about a leading chronic disease in school-aged children.
KW - Asthma
KW - Elementary school
KW - Integrated curriculum
KW - Interdisciplinary curriculum
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952158822&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11524-010-9477-x
DO - 10.1007/s11524-010-9477-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 21337052
AN - SCOPUS:79952158822
SN - 1099-3460
VL - 88
SP - S61-S67
JO - Journal of Urban Health
JF - Journal of Urban Health
IS - SUPPL. 1
ER -