Interventions To Help Asthma Clinical Adherence

Interventions to Help Asthma Clinical Adherence

To conduct a pilot test to estimate the effect of a novel reminder system in improving daily asthma controller medication adherence rates in children with monolingual Spanish-speaking guardians who have limited English Proficiency (LEP).

The primary hypothesis is to conduct a pilot test to estimate the effect of the SmartInhaler device in improving daily asthma controller medication adherence rates in children with monolingual Spanish- speaking guardians who have LEP during a six-week intervention period when compared to baseline medication adherence rates in a preceding six-week run-in period. The secondary hypothesis is to determine whether the patient reminder system can improve asthma symptom control during the same six-week intervention period. The third hypothesis is to assess if there are specific, patient behavior characteristics which are associated with the success of a novel asthma medication reminder system.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. The investigators will recruit 30 participants ages 5 to 17 years with a diagnosis of persistent asthma who require a daily inhaled corticosteroid metered dose inhaler and whose guardian is the person responsible for administering their daily asthma medication.
2. The investigators will recruit only participants who have received or receive care at San Francisco General Hospital's 6M Children's Health Center.
3. The investigators will recruit participants whose daily inhaled corticosteroid are metered dose inhalers (MDI) of either Flovent (fluticasone propionate) HFA (Hydrofluoroalkane) or Qvar (beclamethasone dipropionate) HFA.
4. The Investigators will recruit only participants whose guardian responsible for administering their daily asthma medication has Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and whose primary language is Spanish.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. The Investigators will exclude participants whose guardian responsible for administering their daily asthma medication does not have a Bluetooth enabled cell phone capable of receiving text messages.
2. The Investigators will exclude participants whose guardian responsible for administering their daily asthma medication does not have an available reliable power outlet where they can recharge the battery of their SmartInhaler.
3. The Investigators will exclude participants whose guardian responsible for administering their daily asthma medication is unable to demonstrate correct medication technique based on standard evaluation (Press, 2011) after completion of a standard teaching protocol.
4. The Investigators will exclude participants with chronic lung disease.
5. The Investigators will exclude participants who do not have an operating system of iOS or Android on their cell phone and who have no data plan with their cellular phone plan.
6. The Investigators will exclude participants whose asthma medication regimen is being managed by an asthma subspecialist or health provider outside of the 6M Children's Health Center at San Francisco General Hospital.
7. The Investigators will exclude participants who are using an inhaled long acting beta-agonist (LABA) as part of their asthma management plan.