Research Projects

Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) Pilot

Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) Pilot (NCT04995692)

Telehealth Education for Asthma Connecting Hospital and Home (TEACHH) is designed to deliver patient-centered asthma education and management support for hospitalized children (5-13 years old) and caregivers throughout the hospital-to-home transition. We recently conducted a pilot randomized trial comparing the TEACHH intervention with a standard care control group, assessing feasibility of implementation and describing preliminary outcomes such as asthma-related hospital or ED visits within 6 months, symptom-free days, and quality of life. Participants randomized to the TEACHH group received bedside teaching  prior to discharge featuring pictorial materials, color- and shape-coded medication labels to help differentiate rescue and preventive therapies, and teach-back methods to confirm understanding. After discharge, we completed a pair of in-home telehealth follow-up visits to reinforce and build upon previous teaching. The first visit was completed within 2-4 days of discharge, while the second visit was completed 3 weeks later. Telehealth visits were completed by the same inpatient asthma educator and used identical teaching tools were digitized and formatted for easy viewing on a smartphone screen.

In a paired qualitative study, we conducted in-depth interviews with caregivers enrolled in the pilot study intended to explore their perceptions of the TEACHH intervention and previous experiences with receiving asthma education. We also interviewed pediatric primary care providers in the Rochester, NY metropolitan area to elicit feedback on TEACHH and better understand their experiences with delivering asthma teaching in clinic settings.

Funding Sources

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (ARHQ) R03 HS028033
• UR Medical Faculty Group Innovation Pilot
• Paired qualitative study: American Lung Association Catalyst Award

Project Length

• 2 years

Telehealth-Enhanced Asthma Care for Home after the Emergency Room (TEACH-ER) Trial

Telehealth-Enhanced Asthma Care for Home after the Emergency Room (TEACH-ER) Trial (NCT05844891)

Telehealth-Enhanced Asthma Care for Home after the Emergency Room (TEACH-ER) builds upon the TEACHH pilot and the previous TEAM-ED trial (PI: Halterman). We are conducting a randomized controlled trial for children (3-12 years old) and caregivers presenting to the emergency department due to poorly controlled persistent asthma, comparing TEACH-ER with an enhanced care control condition. We hypothesize that children in the TEACH-ER group will have fewer asthma-related acute care visits (ED or hospital) within 12-months of enrollment.  The TEACH-ER intervention includes brief, pictorial, and health literacy-informed teaching delivered in the ED prior to discharge; virtual follow-up with primary care within 1-2 weeks of discharge, including provider prompts for prescribing guideline-based preventive therapy; and two additional in-home telehealth visits with an asthma educator to deliver comprehensive education, review pictorial asthma action plans, apply color- and shape-coded labels to asthma medications, and discuss effective home management strategies. We plan to have all intervention components delivered within 2-months of enrollment.

Funding Source

• NIH / National heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) R01 HL169466

Project Length

• 5 years