Coach McLungs — a virtual asthma decision and education tool for primary care
Official title: Primary care Implementation and evaluation of Coach McLungs™ an asthma shared decision-making intervention, across a large healthcare system
Funded at Wake Forest University Health Sciences · NIH-11141213 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project brings Coach McLungs, a virtual tool that provides asthma education and supports shared decision-making, into primary care to help children and families manage pediatric asthma.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Wake Forest University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Winston-Salem, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2021 |
| Project end | July 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $627,097 |
| NIH project number | 5R01HL151854-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11141213 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Children with asthma and their caregivers who receive care at participating primary care clinics in the healthcare system would be the ideal candidates to use Coach McLungs.
✕Less likely to help
Patients managed primarily by specialty asthma clinics, adults with asthma, or people who do not attend participating clinics are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
At my child's clinic, Coach McLungs would be available through the electronic health record and used during visits to give tailored asthma education and help me and my child's provider make care choices together. The tool includes built-in clinical decision support for clinicians and education modules for families. The research team will roll the tool out across many primary care sites in the Atrium Health system and track outcomes like asthma control, care decisions, and healthcare use. The goal is to see how well the tool works when it is integrated into routine care at scale.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help children and families get clearer action plans, better day-to-day asthma control, and fewer urgent visits or hospitalizations.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies, including a PCORI-funded dissemination study, have shown that shared decision-making tools like Coach McLungs can improve asthma outcomes in primary care, so this builds on promising prior results.
Where this research is happening
-
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Winston-Salem, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Tapp, Hazel — Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Tapp, Hazel
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Improving asthma care through shared decision-making in primary care.
This study is testing a helpful online tool called Coach McLungs™ that aims to improve conversations and decision-making about asthma care between patients and their doctors, making it easier for you to be involved in managing your asthma.
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Improving asthma management for Black adults through shared decision-making.
This study is testing a quick 9-minute chat called the BREATHE program to help Black adults with asthma better understand their treatment options and feel more involved in their care during doctor visits, aiming to improve their asthma control and reduce symptoms.
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Comparing how families make decisions in telehealth versus in-person visits for children with chronic conditions
This study looks at how using telehealth for kids with chronic conditions, like asthma and ADHD, changes the way families make healthcare decisions compared to regular in-person visits, especially for those in underserved urban areas.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.