Partnership for Asthma Trigger-free Homes (PATH) Study

The Partnership for Asthma Trigger-free Homes (PATH) is a study led by LeMoyne-Owen College (LOC), located in Memphis, Tennessee, and Abt Associates Inc. (Abt), with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts and offices across the U.S., including Bethesda, Maryland, and worldwide. Through the PATH study, LeMoyne-Owen College and Abt Associates Inc. propose to implement an education program targeted at parents or guardians of children (with or without asthma) living in low-income or public housing in Memphis, Tennessee. The education intervention is designed to improve knowledge about asthma as well as to promote behaviors in adults that can reduce indoor asthma trigger levels. Asthma is a prevalent chronic disease in childhood, and low-income/minority communities may be particularly affected, thus the target community is ideal for intervention. Since one aspect of asthma management is trigger avoidance and since most people tend to spend the majority of their time indoors, a program to reduce indoor asthma triggers may be a particularly effective public health intervention. Furthermore, since some triggers can lead to the development, not just the worsening of asthma, non-asthmatics may also experience potential benefit from this program.