Managing Childhood Asthma: The Effectiveness of the Open Airways for Schools Program

Abstract

In 1998, as a result of a collaborative effort, the open airways for schools (OAS) program was implemented in New York state. The program included 40 schools from 8 school districts throughout the state. The purpose of the OAS program was to assist children in managing symptoms and feelings about asthma and help parents to effectively manage their child's asthma. The OAS program consisted of six sessions for the children and two sessions for the parents. This project demonstrated that the OAS program significantly affected both the parents' and the children's asthma symptom management behaviors.