Addressing attitudes and awareness of asthma amongst peers through theatre

Abstract

Background: Poor asthma control, medication adherence and knowledge of asthma have been identified as unmet needs of secondary school children with asthma. Barriers to self-management include embarrassment, fear of bullying, and a lack of peer awareness.

Aims: To assess the impact of an interactive theatre play on the attitudes and awareness of teenagers without asthma in London secondary schools. We hypothesised that a theatre play delivered in school would improve peer awareness and attitudes about asthma.

Methods: A play, developed by the research team and Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theatre, is performed to children in schools. At the end, the main character stays in role and discusses her attitude towards her asthma with the audience. Pre- and post- questionnaire data are summarised using median and standard deviation and compared using Wilcoxon signed-rank analyses.

Results: The play was delivered to 466 children (312 females; 154 males) aged 11 to 13 (mean = 11.8 y). Significant changes were seen in knowledge at baseline and post-theatre (M = 5.5, SD 2.4 vs M = 7.6, SD 2.5; Z = -14.5, p<.01). Concerns about asthma (58% (M = 5.9, SD 2.8) vs 82% (M = 7.2, SD 2.5); Z = -10.8, p<.01), perceptions of the impact of asthma on daily life (28% (M = 6.6, SD 1.9) vs 11% (M = 8.0, SD 1.8); Z = -13.5, p<.05) and the importance of peer support (82% (M = 7.7, SD 2.3) vs 94% (M = 8.7, SD 1.8); Z = -9.1, p<.01) also significantly improved between baseline and post-theatre.

Conclusions: Theatre is an innovative way of raising awareness of asthma in schools. From this, children with asthma should feel empowered to self-manage their condition. This will form part of a larger randomised controlled trial in London schools.