STAYING HEALTHY – ASTHMA RESPONSIBLE AND PREPARED (SHARP)

OVERVIEW

The Staying Healthy – Asthma Responsible and Prepared (SHARP) program was designed for fourth- to sixth-grade students with asthma.  Five schools were randomly assigned to either the SHARP intervention (N=3 schools, 38 students) or regular care (N=2 schools, 28 students).  The students in the SHARP group showed significant improvements in student knowledge of asthma, reasoning about asthma, use of risk- reduction behaviors, participation in normal, chosen life activities, use of asthma-episode-management behaviors, and acceptance of asthma outcomes. 

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Fourth- to sixth- grade students with asthma (Ages = 9 to 12 years).    

The Staying Healthy – Asthma Responsible and Prepared (SHARP) program was developed, in collaboration with school personnel and members of a community asthma coalition, to foster acceptance of asthma by addressing cognitive, behavioral, and psychosocial aspects of asthma management that impact quality-of-life outcomes.  The SHARP program uses the Acceptance of Asthma Model, a life-span development perspective that addresses cognitive, behavioral and psychosocial needs of students with asthma.  The program aims to increase long-term responsibility for maintaining and promoting health, and preventing complications. Students with asthma meet for 50-minute sessions once a week for 10 weeks during school hours.  During these sessions, students work through the 100-page SHARP workbook.  Caregivers, family members, friends, neighbors, schoolteachers, and club or sports leaders are invited by students to participate in one of three programs of the community component that occurs during early weekday hours or on the weekend.  The caregiver-community component involves distribution of informational material and other products, as well as a 90-minute presentation about asthma combined with a question-and-answer component.  Thus, SHARP combines a student component and a community component to promote asthma awareness. 

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Kintner, E. K., & Sikorskii, A. (2009).  Randomized clinical trial of a school-based academic and counseling program for older school-age students. Nursing Research, 58, 321-331.

Evaluated population: Participants in this study (N=66) consisted of students in fourth to sixth grade (ages 9 to 12 years).  Fifty-two percent of the participants were male; 30 percent were black, 36 percent were white, 18 percent were biracial; and a wide range of family incomes was represented.    

Approach: Three schools (N=38 students) were randomly assigned to receive SHARP, and two schools (N=28) were assigned to usual care.  The SHARP program was integrated into the schools as a teaching module.  Caregivers and other people in support of the student participated in a 3-hour information-sharing program.  Data were collected at pretest and posttest on participants’ knowledge of asthma, ability to reason about asthma under various scenarios, asthma health behaviors, acceptance of asthma, participation in life activities, general health history, and severity of illness. 

Results: Students in the SHARP group showed statistically significant improvements in their knowledge of asthma, reasoning about asthma, use of risk reduction behaviors, participation in life activities, use of episode management behaviors, and acceptance of asthma outcomes, compared with students in the control group.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Website: http://www.utexas.edu/nursing/sharp/index.html

References:

Kintner, E. K., & Sikorskii, A. (2009).  Randomized clinical trial of a school-based academic and counseling program for older school-age students. Nursing Research, 58, 321-331.

KEYWORDS: Children; Elementary; Middle School; Males and Females; School-based; Parent Training/Education; Skills Training; Health Status/Conditions

Program information last updated 10/24/11

© Child Trends 2003