FOR RELEASE: May 9, 2006

GALVESTON, Texas — A new DVD produced by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston will teach children with asthma across Texas how to gain better control over their disease.

The project was made possible in part by the Texas State Aerie and Auxiliary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, who donated $100,000 to help UTMB transform its successful asthma education program into a DVD format so that children around the state—particularly those in rural areas who lack such educational resources—can benefit from it.

The Asthma Coalition of Texas will distribute 700 copies of the DVD to be used in asthma camps, elementary schools, clinics and hospitals. The 23-minute DVD features animated host Radical Randy, who leads children through six interactive lessons that teach them such lifesaving skills as identifying asthma triggers, understanding asthma medications and recognizing the early warning signs of an asthma attack.

These lessons were originally developed for UTMB’s Camp RAD, a week-long summer camp founded in 1993 for children with asthma aged 7 to 12 years. Children who attend camp report fewer emergency room visits and fewer missed school days, on average, and parents report these children are more active and more willing to take their medications, according to statistics gathered by Anne Meng, UTMB special programs coordinator for Women’s, Infant’s & Children’s Nursing and founder and director for Camp RAD.

“The camp has been very successful, and we’re so grateful to the Eagles for helping us bring this program to children who can’t attend Camp RAD,” says Meng. She also credits the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences Center at UTMB and the Sealy Center for Environmental Health and Medicine for supporting her position as project director.

The prevalence of asthma has increased 75 percent since the early 1980s, and it had been identified as a national public health problem, Meng says. “More and more children are affected by this life-threatening disease each year, and they need to be educated about how to manage it.”

For more information about the DVD, or about Camp RAD, contact Anne Meng at (409) 772-0867.

The University of Texas Medical Branch
Media Hotline: (409) 772-6397
Judie Kinonen: jlkinone@utmb.edu