Creating a Low Allergen Environment in-home and
in-schools of Asthmatic Children: Education
and Management
Cleveland Moore,
MD, Principal Investigator
Paulina Rojas, MD
Michelle Larzelere, PhD
John Estrada, MD
Donald Mercante, PhD
Abstract
This project is designed to assess the
effectiveness of in-home and in-school
education and management
to identify and mitigate indoor triggers
to which asthmatic children may be sensitive.
The pilot
project is built upon an existing school-based
asthma management program that is being
conducted
by the application organization in inner
city New Orleans. The target population
is composed
primarily
of low-income African American children.
Environmental assessment, allergen burden,
and exposure
to tobacco will be determined in thirty
homes and seven schools
by inspections, and immunoassays for
allergen quantification. Children will
be skin tested
for allergens, and
their urine analyzed for cotinine. Interventions
will focus on behavior modification and
mitigation to reduce indoor asthma triggers.
Two mitigation
strategies will be compared: Education
and provision of an allergen control
kit vs. education,
provision
of an allergen control kit plus professional
pest control and cleaning demonstrations.
Measurable
outcomes include clinical, humanistic,
behavioral, and environmental. In addition,
the project
aims to identify both facilitators and
barriers to families
and school personnel to improving their
indoor environments.
The applicant, Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center, is partnering with the following
institutions: Tulane University Department of Environmental
Health Sciences, The American Lung Association,
the Tulane/LSU Clinical Research Center, and the
School of Social Work at Southern University of
New Orleans, an historically Black college.
Collaboration:
Faye Grimsley, PhD, Tulane University
Essie Perry, MSW, Southern University of
New Orleans
Tulane/LSUHSC General Clinical Research Center
American Lung Association of Louisiana
Sponsor: Environmental Protection Agency
Duration: 11/02 - 11/04
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