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About Our School-Based Asthma Therapy Program for Children (SBAT)
The Situation
The updated guidelines for children with moderate to severe persistent asthma recommend a daily anti-inflammatory asthma medication combined with a long-acting beta2 agonist as a single use inhaler for maintenance and quick relief (SMART: Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy). However, many children with persistent asthma do not receive preventive medications – historically marginalized children are at the highest risk of inadequate therapy. Poor adherence to recommended preventive asthma medications and lack of preventive follow-up care is common, leading to preventable morbidity. Thus, efforts to improve the delivery of preventive asthma care are warranted. We developed the School-Based Asthma Therapy (SBAT) Program to build on school-based healthcare programs to overcome barriers to preventive asthma care, improve health and academic outcomes, and allow kids to JUST BE KIDS.
The SBAT Program Can Help
The SBAT Program is designed to improve adherence to the recommended guidelines for asthma management through a comprehensive school-based program tailored to the available resources of many urban and rural school districts. The SBAT Program minimizes demands on school nurses and those who care for kids with asthma, to assist in the administration of daily preventive asthma medications.
EVIDENCE-BASED
ASTHMA THERAPY PROGRAM
Evidence demonstrates that children enrolled in the SBAT Program experience increased symptom-free days; improved asthma control test scores; and decreased nighttime symptoms, quick-relief medication use, activity limitations, exacerbations requiring steroid treatment, emergency department and urgent care visits, and hospitalizations. Our evidence-based, multi-disciplinary school-based asthma intervention program, can also improve academic performance, reduce absenteeism, and have a positive effect on kids' overall health and quality of life.
BENEFITS BEYOND
BETTER HEALTH FOR
KIDS WITH ASTHMA
The SBAT Program:
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Improves a child's ability to engage in physical activities
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Enhances school success
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Reduces stress on the family
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Makes a positive difference in their quality of life
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Lets children with asthma JUST BE KIDS
You'll see all the positive Program Outcomes from children who participate in SBAT on this website.
The SBAT Team
Kimberly Arcoleo, PhD, MPH
Professor, Michigan State University, College of Nursing
Dr. Arcoleo’s passion for helping children with asthma started when her daughter was 2 years old and had a cough and repeated upper respiratory infections that would not go away. She spent over 1½ years working with her pediatrician to uncover what was going on and it was finally determined after allergy testing that her daughter had allergic asthma. It was her experience going through this difficult challenge, even with access to a number of resources and professionals, that spurred her desire to help children with asthma and their families who are underserved get the knowledge, resources, and services they need. Her overarching goal is to close the health disparities gap for underserved children so that all children with asthma achieve optimal control allowing them to just be kids!
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Jill Halterman, MD, MPH
Professor University of Rochester Medical Center Chair, Department of Pediatrics
Dr. Halterman is a pediatrician with a focus on improving the delivery of preventive care for children with asthma who are underserved. She has launched several successful health programs that now serve as national models for improving child health. She established the Preventive Care Program for Urban Children with Asthma which develops and tests various programs to decrease the burden of asthma in the Rochester community, better understand the gaps in asthma healthcare, improve overall care for children with asthma, and develop sustainable models for asthma care that can be disseminated. More than 1,600 children in Rochester, New York, have benefitted from the SBAT Program.
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Colleen McGovern, PhD, MPH, RN
Assistant Professor University of North Carolina Greensboro School of Nursing
Dr. Mc Govern was working as a school nurse when she realized that many of the children she treated were struggling to simply cope with life’s challenges let alone adequately manage their asthma. She found herself teaching coping skills to children in addition to her regular duties as the school nurse. This led to her completing a PhD so that she could help children on a larger scale, specifically children with asthma who don’t fully understand the challenges they face. She chose to work with school-aged children before they enter adolescence because they may not understand asthma as a chronic condition and what actions to take to manage their symptoms. Her goal is to help them improve their physical and mental health so they can thrive even when they experience difficulties.
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