The American Lung Association’s Open Airways For Schools (OAS) is an asthma management program for schoolchildren aged 8-11 who have been diagnosed with asthma.
The program’s goals:
- improve asthma self-management skills
- decrease asthma emergencies
- raise asthma awareness among parents/guardians
- promote broader asthma management coordination among physicians, parents and schools
What is Open Airways For Schools?
OAS consists of six 40-minute group lessons for children with asthma held during the school day. OAS uses group discussion, stories, games and role play to help students take part in the program.
Topics covered include:
- basic information about asthma
- recognizing and managing asthma symptoms
- using medication
- avoiding asthma triggers
- getting enough exercise
- doing well at school
How Does the Open Airways For Schools Program Work?
The class is taught as six 40 minute sessions during the school day by a certified instructor. Students are removed from their regular classrooms to participate in the class. The program works by teaching children that it is okay to have asthma and that they can take control of their asthma.
Instructors are trained in the program by a certified trainer. They can be school personnel, parents, community volunteers, or anyone with an interest in working with children.
The OAS classroom kits contain easy-to-use teaching materials including posters and handouts. Each lesson includes materials for the children to take home to their parents. Curriculum materials are available in English and Spanish.
OAS is provided to the school or school district by local Lung Associations or partner organizations.
How can You get involved?
Work with your local lung association and school district to get Open Airways For Schools into your child’s school.
Background
Sample OAS Lesson
National Awards:
In 1992, Open Airways For Schools received the Health Education Research Award from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program.
In 2005, Open Airways For Schools received a Children’s Environmental Health Recognition Award from the US EPA.
How can you find out more about the program?
The Open Airways For Schools program is available through local Lung Association offices. For more information on OAS please contact your local Lung Association or call 1-800-LUNG USA.
Background
The program’s clinic-based precursor (Open Airways) was developed by Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and was renamed Open Airways For Schools after being adapted for use in school settings. The initial study was conducted with 239 low-income children from 12 elementary schools. Children who received the OAS program took more steps to manage their asthma, improved their school performance, and had fewer and less severe asthma episodes. Parents of children receiving OAS reported taking more steps to help manage their children's asthma. The school environment became more supportive: children without asthma were more willing to help children with asthma, and children with asthma were able to give support to one another.
The Open Airways For Schools program has been evaluated and tested by the original researchers. The initial OAS evaluation showed that asthma health education delivered to children in the school setting increases asthma management skills, reduces asthma symptoms (through trigger avoidance), and improves school performance. In the first five years, local Lung Associations were able to reach more than 400,000 children in over 30,000 schools throughout the country. Subsequent evaluation of the program confirmed the original findings and additionally found that implementing OAS reduces both school absences and use of health care services. The OAS curriculum contains a pre-test and post-test that allow schools and local Lung Associations to determine the impact the program has on children with asthma in their area.
OAS is an important component of a comprehensive approach to asthma management in schools as promoted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and American Lung Association’s Asthma Friendly Schools Initiative. OAS has been approved and recommended by the National Association of School Nurses. In 1992, Open Airways For Schools received the Health Education Research Award from the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program.
Bibliography:
Bruzzese JM, Markman LB, Appel D, Webber M. An evaluation of Open Airways For Schools: Using college students as instructors. J of Asthma. 2001; 38(4):337-42.
Evans D, Clark NM, Feldman CH, Rips J, Kaplan D, Levison MJ, Wasil Y, Levin B, Mellins RB. A school health education program for children with asthma aged 8-11 years. Health Educ Quarterly. 1987 Fall;14(3):267-79.
Evans N, Clark NM, Levison MJ, Levin B, Mellins RB. Can children teach their parents about Asthma? Health Educ Behav. 2001 Aug;28(4):500-11.
Spencer GA, Atav S, Johnson Y, Harrigan JF. Managing childhood asthma: The effectiveness of the Open Airways For Schools program. Family and Community Health. 2000; 23(2):20-30.
Sample OAS Lesson
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Lesson 4: Finding and Controlling Asthma Triggers
Here is a picture of a school.
Instructor: Class now you get to be asthma trigger detectives.
Instructor: Please circle all the things that trigger your asthma.
The children then discuss what their triggers are and how they can avoid them.
This lesson emphasizes that different children have different asthma triggers and that there are different ways to remove them or reduce their impact.
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Information for Schools:
Asthma is a chronic illness that is a growing problem in America. In a classroom of 30 students, two are likely to have asthma. Asthma can be life-threatening; it causes breathing problems called asthma “attacks” or “episodes” that range from mild to serious. Asthma affects student and faculty absenteeism and productivity, and it demands an immense amount of time and attention of our school nurses and health services staff. It is one of the leading serious chronic childhood illnesses and is a leading medical cause of school absenteeism.
Benefits from the OAS program:
- Benefits for School Principals and Administrators: decreased absenteeism, improved classroom performance, fewer children in the nurses office, all implementation and administrative work can be done by the local Lung Association staff or volunteers. The number of classroom hours lost by a child attending OAS classes adds up to less than 1 day of absence due to asthma.
- Benefits to Teachers: improved classroom performance, increased participation in physical activities, and awareness of how to handle an asthma episode in the classroom.
- Benefits to School Nurses: better management of asthmatic students, improved school performance, fewer doctor and parent phone calls, and fewer asthma emergencies. The nurse may be the one conducting the program, or an outside community volunteer instructor may work with the school nurse to bring the program into the school.
The American Lung Association encourages School Districts to make OAS available in all elementary schools. OAS is also part of the Asthma Friendly Schools Initiative. This initiative was designed to give schools, the Lung Association and other community organizations the tools to create a comprehensive asthma management plan for the school. If you are interested in having OAS in your school district please contact your local Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG USA.
Information for Parents:
Asthma is a chronic illness that is a growing problem in America. In a classroom of 30 students, two are likely to have asthma. Asthma can be life-threatening; it causes breathing problems called asthma “attacks” or “episodes” that range from mild to serious. This program teaches children how to manage their own asthma. The program also provides information for parents on how to improve the health of their child by eliminating asthma triggers from the home. To view a sample lesson please click here.
This program is provided free of charge during the school day. If you are interested in getting this program into your child’s school please contact your local Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG USA.
Benefits to Parents:
- Benefits to Parents: education about asthma, improved school performance, fewer missed days of school, improved self management of asthma by the child.
- No cost to parents.
- Children may attend class in multiple years.
- Taught by trained instructors.
- Program is not a substitute for medical care and advice.
- Parents are welcome to become trained instructors or volunteer with their local Lung Associations in other ways.
Information for Community Volunteers:
Asthma is a chronic illness that is a growing problem in America. In a classroom of 30 students, two are likely to have asthma. Asthma can be life-threatening; it causes breathing problems called asthma “attacks” or “episodes” that range from mild to serious. Asthma affects student and faculty absenteeism and productivity, and it demands an immense amount of time and attention of our school nurses and health services staff. It is one of the leading serious chronic childhood illnesses and is a leading medical cause of school absenteeism.
Benefits to community partners: opportunity to work with children and have a positive impact, publicity, and community outreach through an established proven program.
If you are interested in becoming an OAS instructor or volunteering with the American Lung Association in another capacity please contact your local Lung Association at 1-800-LUNG USA.
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