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SAMPRO unifies clinicians, school nurses, patients on asthma support
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Multiple stakeholders recently addressed the necessity for pediatricians to educate families and children about asthma treatments and cooperate with school nurses to meet school-based asthma care needs in the School-based Asthma Management Program, according to a workforce report.
“Morbidity from childhood asthma adversely affects school performance, with one in two children reporting school absences caused by asthma each year,” Robert F. Lemanske Jr., MD, from the department of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “These asthma-related absences influence academic achievement, leading to decreased levels of reading proficiency and increased risk of learning disabilities.
“Improving health and school-related outcomes for children with asthma will require use of school-based partnerships that focus on integrated care coordination among families, clinicians and school nurses.”
To address critical issues regarding school-based asthma care and communication between clinicians, school nurses and families, a summit meeting, sponsored by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, was conducted in October 2015. From that meeting the stakeholders created the four-component support program School-based Asthma Management Program, or SAMPRO.
SAMPRO was designed to foster education of children and families with the cooperation of clinicians and school nurses in a “circle of support” partnership to enhance multidirectional communication and care for children with asthma-related illness in the school environment, the report said.
Program components for SAMPRO include the implementation of:
- a circle of support involving clinicians, school nurses and the community to develop “an infrastructure of communication centered around the child and his or her asthma management;”
- asthma management plans that include both an asthma emergency treatment plan, which will provide albuterol and distribution methods, and an asthma action plan;
- a comprehensive plan on asthma education for all school personnel; and
- an assessment plan for the school environment that addresses and eliminates asthma triggers.
“Importantly, the intentions behind the creation of SAMPRO were never to replace existing asthma education programs that are working well to improve asthma care in their communities,” Lemanske and colleagues wrote. “Rather, it was created to provide and disseminate tools that develop the circle of support for communities without this communication infrastructure.” – by Kate Sherrer
Disclosure: Lemanske reports receiving travel support from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology; being employed by the University of Wisconsin; receiving grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and Pharmaxis. He also reports receiving royalties from Elsevier and UpToDate; and receiving speaker honoraria from the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America – Alaska Chapter, Boston Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the Egyptian Allergy Society, Health Star Communications, the Kuwait Allergy Society, Lurie Children’s Hospital, and Northwestern University. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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Gary S. Rachelefsky, MD
Children with asthma spend a large part of their week in the school setting with many of them under the guidance of individuals who may not be familiar with the treatment for asthma exacerbations or how to prevent them.
The health care provider can play a significant part in educating school personnel about appropriate steps to take in the school environment to avoid situations that place children with asthma at risk. SAMPRO was developed with the purpose of creating a central resource to provide education for health care providers and assist in their interaction with school personnel, providing an excellent foundation to aid health care providers and school personnel to create asthma-safe schools.
SAMPRO includes health- and school-related outcomes for children with asthma regarding the use of school-based partnerships that focus on integrating care and coordination amongst families, clinicians and school nurses. The adoption of this program nationwide is expected to have a significant impact on the outcome of children who have asthma.
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