The Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) pilot study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the feasibility of a novel intervention of health literacy-informed, telemedicine-enhanced asthma education and home management support for hospitalized children and caregivers, and assess caregiver perspectives of the intervention.

METHODS

We conducted a pilot randomized trial of the Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) intervention vs. standardized care (SC) for children (5-13 yrs) hospitalized with asthma. Participants in TEACHH received health literacy-informed teaching prior to discharge, including pictorial materials (e.g. flipchart, action plan), color- and shape-coded medication labels, and medication demonstration. Two Zoom-based follow-up teaching visits were completed within 1-month of discharge. Feasibility was assessed by tracking visit completion, and we measured preliminary outcomes using health records (i.e. total asthma-related acute healthcare visits) and blinded surveys of caregivers 2-, 4-, and 6-months post-discharge (i.e. symptom-free days, quality of life). We interviewed caregivers about their perceptions of TEACHH. Transcripts were coded inductively.

RESULTS

We enrolled 26 children and interviewed 14 caregivers (9 TEACHH, 5 SC). All inpatient sessions were completed, as were 77% of virtual visits. Both groups experienced improved symptoms and quality of life over time. Caregivers valued the teaching, involvement of children, visual tools, and color-coded information of TEACHH. They described child-specific benefits, greater support after discharge, and improved asthma-related communication, and indicated that other families would benefit from similar teaching.

CONCLUSIONS

A novel program of patient-centered asthma education was feasible in both hospital and home settings and well received by caregivers. A larger study is needed to assess the impact of TEACHH on childhood asthma morbidity.

CLINICALTRIALS.GOV IDENTIFIER: NCT04995692 (Registration date 8/9/2021).