Jefferson College of Health Sciences Asthma study

Jefferson College of Health Sciences News Release
Published: September 8, 2008

Read the news release below

Stuart Tousman, Ph.D., an Associate Professor in Health Psychology at Jefferson College of Health Sciences, has been awarded a $20,000 research acceleration grant from Carilion Clinic to implement an adult asthma self-management research study beginning in October.

Residents from across the region who have asthma are invited to join the study, which is designed to help participants increase their knowledge of the disease and improve the quality of their lives through better asthma management.

Participants are being enrolled through Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. For more information or to enroll, contact Dr. Tousman at (540) 767-6096 or via e-mail at . Or, visit the study’s webpage at:  http://www.jchs.edu/page.php/prmID/511.

Dr. Tousman, himself a lifelong asthmatic, developed this program as a way of teaching adults with asthma how to better cope with their disease. The program consists of two-hour weekly meetings for eight weeks in which subjects interactively learn and problem-solve situations involving their asthma. Local allergy and pulmonary experts will be guests in the study and the staff involved in the program will include JCHS professors from the nursing, respiratory therapy, occupational therapy and physician assistant programs.

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the bronchial tubes and can affect babies, children, teens, and adults. In the United States, 17 million people have asthma and someone with the disease dies every 90 minutes. Recent statistics in the state of Virginia indicate that asthma in the Roanoke Valley is a growing epidemic.

JCHS is a private higher education institution that focuses on providing healthcare education and is fully integrated with Carilion Clinic. Founded in 1914 as the Jefferson Hospital School of Nursing, JCHS now offers its approximately 1,000 students many opportunities to become part of the healthcare profession, serving communities from southwest Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley and beyond. The school’s graduates are building healthier tomorrows for those in need every day across the country. More information is available at http://www.jchs.edu.