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Monday, 31 October 2011
Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to translate the theory-based nursing intervention to promote the disease management for children with asthma
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to realize the family empowerment is an important nursing intervention for families with chronic illness
Purpose: To develop a asthma family empowerment program (AFEP) based on the partnership of child-family-clinics to provide counseling, support and enabling family get the capabilities to management their ill child with asthma based Freire’s empowerment theory. And To evaluate the lung function and asthma sign and symptoms after 4 time dialogue with child and their family. Methods: There are seventy two children with asthma have been recruited for the sake of low family function (APGAR < 6). After randomization by the sealed envelop, thirty four families were assigned into experimental group to receive the family empowerment program, thirty eight families were assigned into the comparison group to receive the regular health education at the asthma clinics. Lung function (FEV1 and FEV1/FVC) were collected by the portable lung function monitoring device and peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) by PEF meter. Five common asthma sign and symptom were collected by parents’ self reporting before and after intervention for three months. Results: Children in the experimental group have better FEV1 and PEF than children in the comparison group after three month intervention (p <0.05), however no significant change in FEV1/FVC between two groups after intervention. Except for the symptoms during sleep time have no significant change between two groups after intervention; cough, wheezing, and activity limitation have significant reduced in the experimental group. Conclusion: Family empowerment program could increase the family’s ability to manage their child’s asthma problems through finding the problems in their family, discovery the way to solving it, allow families cooperation and discussion about the asthma management issues. Based on the Freire’s empowerment theory, families enabled themselves to growing and treating the children’s problems positively and also the got good health outcomes consequently.