Stock inhaler program receives positive feedback from Illinois school health personnel
Key takeaways:
- School health personnel feedback came via survey responses and interviews.
- Researchers found that high proportions of school nurses felt satisfied with the program and its elements.
SAN DIEGO — A program that supplies schools with stock inhalers was well received by school health personnel/nurses in Illinois, according to two posters presented here.
Both posters were presented at the 2025 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology/World Allergy Organization Joint Congress.
“Policy-level systemic changes are required to be able to de-escalate asthma symptoms in atypical health care environments, such as schools,” Andrea Pappalardo, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, associate professor of medicine and pediatrics at University of Illinois College of Medicine and allergy service director in the division of pulmonary, critical care, sleep and allergy, told Healio. “In doing so, we may recognize children with previously undiagnosed asthma, inappropriately de-labeled and/or believed to have ‘grown out’ of asthma, and/or uncontrolled asthma.
“Schools require our help to facilitate paperwork completion and provide the necessary asthma management in the clinical setting to facilitate children’s healthy presence in earning their education,” Pappalardo continued.
Using survey data, Pappalardo and colleagues analyzed responses from 156 school health personnel (78.5% registered nurses; 75% white) employed at 227 schools participating in the Resources for Every School Confronting Unexpected Emergencies Illinois (RESCUE-IL) program during the 2023 to 2024 school year to find out how satisfied they were with the program. Researchers also asked school health personnel about any concerns they had related to the program.
Notably, the poster highlighted that schools participating in this program received three things: undesignated (stock) inhalers, supplies and live or pre-recorded training.
“This study was funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) through the Respiratory Health Association and included academic partners at University of Illinois Chicago and University of Chicago along with [Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s] RESCUE-IL partners to evaluate the statewide program that was employed with state of Illinois funding for the 2023 to 2024 school year,” Pappalardo told Healio.
Additionally, 24 school health personnel/nurses (75% in Westchester IDPH health region) who had given the stock inhaler completed a semi-structured Zoom interview in order for researchers to collect qualitative data.
“This approach used mixed methods which included surveys of the trained school health professionals through the RESCUE-IL portal surrounding their experiences, and qualitative interviewing of school nurses to assess their experiences during respiratory distress incidents in schools in which a stock inhaler was utilized,” Pappalardo told Healio.
Survey findings
When asked about the presence of stock inhalers before taking part in the RESCUE-IL program, the majority of schools (68.3%) had none of these inhalers based on survey responses.
In terms of outcomes related to the program, harm was not indicated by any surveyed school health personnel, according to the poster.
During the evaluation of satisfaction, researchers found that high proportions of nurses reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the program as a whole (84.6%), program implementation support (71.8%) and the program’s online portal (68.6%).
On a school level as opposed to a nurse level, researchers continued to observe high proportions of satisfied or very satisfied reports when asked about the “ability to de-escalate asthma emergencies at school” (82.4%) and “timely receipt of supplies” (80.2%).
Further, the question inquiring about use of this program next school year was met with positivity, as most schools (91.6%) reported that program recommendation was likely or very likely, according to the poster.
When asked about the benefits of the RESCUE-IL program, the poster noted that five emerged as the most frequently reported by schools:
- “ability to act quickly in emergency situations” (96%);
- “peace of mind for staff” (70%);
- “reduced absences/more students can return to class” (59.5%);
- “peace of mind for students (56.8%); and
- “ability to provide asthma education to children/families” (51.1%).
Switching to barriers of the RESCUE-IL program, researchers found reports of no barriers by 42.7% of schools. “Fears that children/families will no longer supply their personal inhaler” was the most frequently reported concern by schools (35.7%), followed by “liability concerns” (20.3%), “not sure how to implement the RESCUE-IL program” (14.6%) and “difficulty obtaining medication” (11%), according to the poster.
Interview findings
In the interviews with school nurses, the study poster noted that many thought the program was beneficial on both the student side and the school health personnel side.
In terms of concerns with the RESCUE-IL program, researchers found multiple mentions of logistic concerns and unclear diagnosis during the interviews.
When asked about their experience with using the stock inhaler, more nurses mentioned that the student went back to class as opposed to leaving with a parent. After the stock inhaler event, researchers found more nurse mentions of communication with the student’s parent vs. provider.
Notably, a common theme observed across nurse interviews was the “necessity of stock inhalers,” according to the poster.
“These results demonstrate significant value and satisfaction with this public health program and provided infrastructure and funding for a program that schools seemed to use frequently and need,” Pappalardo told Healio.
“Future studies will focus on more of the specific protocol fidelity and reactions from the community surrounding such large-scale statewide programming and to evaluate the economic impact, specifically the tremendous cost savings, in children returning to class after stock inhaler receipt, reduced absences and [emergency medical service] call avoidance,” Pappalardo said.
For more information:
Andrea Pappalardo, MD, FAAAAI, FACAAI, can be reached at apappa2@uic.edu.
Reference:
- Hardy P, et al. Poster 060: “He went back to class after a while and was fine:” School nurse asthma symptom management experiences from RESCUE-IL’s statewide stock inhaler program. Presented at: 2025 AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress; Feb. 28-March 3, 2025; San Diego.