Registry and Screening Tool to Identify Children With Asthma Likely to Benefit From Home Assessment and Remediation

Overview

Recognizing a decline in pediatric primary care visits and immunizations rates, an increase in utilization of the emergency room and stagnating academic achievement, leaders of MetroHealth Medical Center and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District understood that an innovative delivery option would be required to meet the needs of their pediatric urban population. In the fall of 2013, with support from local and regional funders, they collaborated to open the first School Based Health Center in Cleveland. During its first year, the MetroHealth School Health Program provided primary care services to children in 98 clinical care visits. Through an emphasis on population health and care coordination, the School Health Program has grew dramatically, completing over 2,400 visits in the 2017-2018 school year at clinical sites in over 13 schools. The School Health Program has been successful in developing a care management model to improve the percentage of students who complete recommended preventive services including immunization and preventive visits. The investigators intend to apply and expand upon lessons learned to develop an effective multi component asthma care management model that includes (1) registry utilization (2) evidence based clinical care protocols (3) implementation of an Environmental Screening Tool (4) effective utilization of a Medical Legal Partnership (5) effective partnership with an environmental health justice community organization, Environmental Health Watch, for home assessment and remediation (6) utilization of a unique data sharing partnership between a large health system and school district to document health and educational outcomes.

Students enrolled in the MetroHealth School Health Program (signed parental consent on file in electronic health record) and have a diagnosis of asthma on active problem list, or were seen in Emergency Department or Express Care in past 12 months for asthma related diagnosis, or have a rescue or controller inhaled medication on current medication list, will be considered for inclusion. Research staff will call families who meet inclusion criteria to discuss the study, determine interest in inclusion and obtain consent. Once enrolled baseline measures will be obtained, including level of asthma control and responses on the Environmental Screening Tool (EST) and the Community Advocacy Program Home Asthma Screening Tool (CAPHAST) (see CREST phone screening tool). Participants will then be randomized into two groups. The first group will receive regular care. The second group will receive the Asthma Home Assessment Intervention. Based on results of the screening tool and home assessments, participants will be placed into one of four groups (see CREST study design): GROUP A (no referral) GROUP B (home assessment only) GROUP C (home assessment and remediation) and GROUP D (medical legal partnership referral only) Participants randomized to regular care will be assessed for outcome measures at 3 and 6 months after randomization. Those randomized to the intervention arm will be assessed at 3 and 6 months after completion of intervention.