Two-year results from the asthma self-management program: long-term impact on health care services, costs, functional status, and productivity.

Participants in a variety of health plans, clinics and employer groups were invited to participate in the Asthma Self-Management Program (ASMP), an education program designed to improve self-management skills and daily functioning in individuals with asthma. The ASMP is an 8-week classroom program that provides information on the respiratory system, trigger avoidance, use of monitoring techniques and asthma medications. After program completion, graduates were contacted at scheduled intervals to reinforce performance of behaviors that are important to asthma self-management and to collect outcomes data. This paper reports the results of 2 years of follow-up with these individuals.

Fruit and vegetable consumption and prevention of cancer: the Black Churches United for Better Health project.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effects of the Black Churches United for Better Health project on increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among rural African American church members in North Carolina. METHODS: Ten counties comprising 50 churches were pair matched and randomly assigned to either intervention or delayed intervention (no program until after the follow-up survey) conditions. A multicomponent intervention was conducted over approximately 20 months. A total of 2519 adults (77.3% response rate) completed both the baseline and 2-year follow-up interviews. RESULTS: The 2 study groups consumed similar amounts of fruits and vegetables at baseline. AT the 2-year follow-up, the intervention group consumed 0.85 (SE = 0.12) servings more than the delayed intervention group (P < .0001). The largest increases were observed among people 66 years or older (1 serving), those with education beyond high school (0.92 servings), those widowed or divorced (0.96 servings), and those attending church frequently (1.3 servings). The last improvement occurred among those aged 18 to 37 years and those who were single. CONCLUSIONS: The project was a successful model for achieving dietary change among rural African Americans.