Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes in the United States. A Blueprint for Policy Action

摘要

This report describes the group process used to arrive at the policy recommendations proposed in Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes in the United States: A Blueprint for Policy Action. The latter report summarizes the findings of an effort funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to identify a range of policy actions in both the public and private sectors that could improve childhood asthma outcomes nationwide, select a subset of policies to create a blueprint for national policy in this area, and outline alternatives to implement these policies that build on prior efforts. Over the course of 2000, RAND Health engaged an interdisciplinary committee of nationally recognized leaders in childhood asthma in a structured group process to identify the policy recommendations in the Blueprint. Appendix A provides a schematic of the group process, and this report describes the process in detail. The extensive appendices contain the essential 'live' documents (lists, voting sheets, Power Point slides, Excel spreadsheets, etc.) that facilitated this process. This effort is part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pediatric Asthma Initiative. The purpose of this initiative is to address current gaps in national childhood asthma care through clinical and nonclinical approaches to improve the management of childhood asthma. It is the first national initiative that simultaneously addresses treatment, policy, and financing issues for children with asthma at the patient, provider, and institutional levels.