CHIRAH (Chicago Initiative to Raise Asthma Health Equity)

The staff of CHIRAH, led by Laura Sadowski, MD has developed a collaborative research program between Northwestern University Medical School and Stroger Hospital of Cook County to fully characterize the relationship of social stress, coping, and self-regulatory health behaviors in the context of asthma disparities among African American and low income populations. The project will then develop and test an intervention strategy to reduce asthma disparities in high-risk populations based on best evidence-based models of social work, nursing, and community peer coaching interventions. The project’s specific research aims include:

  • To develop and validate culturally appropriate psychosocial instruments related to the underlying causes of disparity in asthma morbidity;
  • To identify the structural relationships of psychosocial factors to other known influential factors related to disparities in asthma outcomes;
  • To study the changes in structural relationship among influential factors in asthma disparity of time as related to changes in health status;
  • To develop, pilot test, and field test a community-based asthma team (peer coach, asthma nurse, and social worker) intervention to enhance individuals’ ability to cope with chronic illness and improve asthma-related behaviors.