Research Project Summary
Poor asthma control in these minority adolescents has led to increased emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalization, higher school absenteeism, and poor quality of life. Emerging research has shown that asthma health outcomes are strongly influenced by multiple domains of social determinants of health (SDOH). Socially vulnerable communities are not only at greater health risks or inequity for poor asthma outcomes caused by adverse social determinants but also have fewer resources to mitigate such risks. But very limited studies to date have investigated the ongoing positive and negative impacts of SDOH including housing, food security, transportation, and safety needs on ER visits and hospitalizations among low-income and minority adolescents. Additionally, asthma self-management has been recognized as one of the most important factors for better asthma control. Yet, many adolescents with asthma face tremendous challenges and barriers in transitioning into self-management. Limited research has engaged caregivers in low-income minority families to gain a deeper understanding of barriers and facilitators of managing asthma in the context of specific SDOH. A multi-method design will leverage large and pooled cross-sectional data from the Camden Coalition Health Information Exchange and Accountable Health Communities survey from 2017 to 2021 augmented with in-depth individual interviews with caregivers to gain a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators of asthma self-management and subsequently asthma control.
Research Project Goals
The main goal of this project is to examine the impact of social determinants of health in asthma control and asthma management among low-income minority adolescents in South Jersey.
Research Project Objectives
The specific objectives are
- 1. To examine the positive and negative impact of multiple social determinants of health (i.e., stable housing, food security, transportation, utility, and safety needs) in asthma control (i.e., ER visits and hospitalizations) among low-income minority adolescents in South Jersey.
- 2. To identify caregivers’ perspectives of barriers and facilitators of asthma self-management among historically marginalized families in relation to the influence of SDOH using a qualitative descriptive approach.