Health Buddy

OVERVIEW

 

Health Buddy is a program in which children and adolescents with asthma use a personal, interactive communication device that is connected to a home telephone to keep track of their asthma symptoms, peak flow readings, use of medications and health services, and restricted activity. The main aim of the program is to reduce restricted activity. An evaluation of Health Buddy found a positive impact for restricted activity, peak flow readings, and taking medication without reminders.

 

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: Children and adolescents with persistent asthma

 

This intervention involves daily use of the Health Buddy device by children with asthma. Health Buddy is a personal, interactive communication device connected to a home telephone that presents information and questions and records responses. Children are asked questions about their asthma symptoms, peak flow readings, use of medications and health services, and restricted activity. The device gives immediate feedback and also provides asthma facts and trivia questions to increase children’s curiosity and learning. For example, if a child says that he/she missed out on activities because of asthma, the device would suggest talking to a doctor.

 

EVALUATION OF PROGRAM

 

Evaluated population: 134 children ages eight to sixteen with persistent asthma who attended a clinic at a children’s hospital in Oakland, California. The sample was 76 percent African American, 10 percent white, and 14 percent other. The average age was 12 years, and 57 percent were male.

 

Approach: Children were randomly assigned to the Health Buddy intervention or a control condition in which children track their symptoms, peak flow readings, medication use, and restricted activity in an asthma diary. Data on primary and secondary outcomes were collected daily through the Health Buddy device for the intervention group and through asthma diaries for the control group. The primary outcome was restricted activity, which is an indicator of functional status. Secondary outcomes were asthma symptoms, peak flow readings, use of health services due to asthma, and school absences due to asthma. Peak flow readings measure lung function and readings in the yellow or red zones indicates that peak flow is less than 70 percent of the normal readings. Data were also collected at pre-test and six and twelve week follow-ups on self-care behaviors.

 

Results: Asthma symptoms and peak flow readings in the yellow and red zones decreased for both the intervention and control groups at six and twelve weeks. However, the intervention group had significantly fewer peak flow readings in the yellow and red zones and was less likely to report restricted activities compared with the control group. In terms of self-care behaviors, the intervention group was more likely to take asthma medication without any reminders. The intervention group also had fewer urgent calls to health services. There was no impact on coughing/wheezing, trouble sleeping, school absences, emergency department visits, or hospitalizations.

 

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

 

References

Guendelman, S., Meade, K., Benson, M., Chen, Y.Q., & Samuels, S. (2002). Improving asthma outcomes and self-management behaviors of inner-city children. Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, 156, 114-120.

 

KEYWORDS: Children (3-11), Adolescents (12-17), Males and Females (Co-ed), Black/African American, Urban, Health Status/Conditions

 

Program information last updated on 12/27/10.

 

 

 

 

		© Child Trends 2004