La Junta

Researchers are evaluating a program called Better Asthma Control for Kids BACK to help reduce asthma attacks in children aged 5 to 12 years who live in disadvantaged, low-income communities in Colorado. This study aims to improve asthma outcomes and reduce disparities by implementing school-based asthma management programs tailored to local community needs. The focus is on reducing asthma exacerbations and missed school days by addressing social determinants of health, such as insurance and transportation challenges, through collaboration with schools, families, healthcare providers, and community resources. The study compares two ways of delivering the BACK program BACK-Standard BACK-S, which includes tailored strategies and regular collaborative meetings for school staff and asthma navigators, and BACK-Enhanced BACK-E, which adds extra support to build connections among students, families, schools, and community services to address social determinants of health more fully. The program is implemented by school nurses and asthma navigators in multiple rural and small urban Colorado regions over three years, with a fourth year focused on sustaining the program and creating a dissemination guide for wider use. Participants will be school children with poorly controlled asthma attending selected schools. Researchers will collect data on how well the program reaches students, its effectiveness in reducing asthma attacks, and how well it is adopted and maintained by schools. Assessments will include tracking asthma exacerbations, emergency visits, hospitalizations, and school absenteeism. The study will also evaluate the costs and sustainability of the program. The total study duration includes up to 48 months of data collection and follow-up.