The National Institutes of Health has awarded investigators at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI) (Little Rock, Ark.) a 5-year, $2.2 million grant to explore whether school-based telemedicine sessions with doctors can help students in rural areas control their asthma.
The Reducing Asthma Disparities in Arkansas (RADAR) research team will examine 12 school districts in rural east Arkansas counties, outfitting six with video-conferencing so that recruited students can have regular education and interaction with specialists in Little Rock. The remaining schools will act as control sites.
Researchers anticipate that students participating in the trial will gain better control over their disease, with fewer episodes of acute breathing problems.
The RADAR study will include three years of school-based intervention, with each site hosting the video-conferencing sessions for a year. The project will begin in the schools in the fall of 2011.
