ABSTRACT
Asthma creates a significant burden for children and their families. Worldwide, asthma is increasing, ranging from about 3% in Greece, China, and India to over 15% in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.1 Asthma disproportionately affects children. In the United States, asthma hospitalization rates are highest among persons aged 0-4 years; for this age group, the rates have increased by more than 28% in the last 15 years. Mortality rates have increased faster among children aged 5-12 years than among those aged 15-34 years.2 Nearly one third of children with asthma restrict their activities because of the disease.3,4 Asthma is a leading cause of school absences, resulting in a loss of over 11 million school days in 1 year.5 Yet much of this burden is unnecessary: medical treatments that can enable most children with asthma to participate fully in all childhood activities are available. The challenge is to ensure that children around the world have access to these treatments. Education is a critical component of treatment because medications alone
All published asthma clinical practice guidelines stress that patients who become active participants in their care have an improved likelihood for well-controlled asthma.6-8
Optimal education builds a therapeutic alliance between the clinician and patient (and family) through which the patient acquires selfmanagement skills to become active in his or her care, and the patient (and family) and clinician work together to develop a tailored treatment plan and regularly review it to identify and overcome barriers to managing the patient’s asthma.9 A wide spectrum of asthma education programs has been developed for use in different settings (e.g., clinics, hospitals, schools, community centers, and homes) and for people of different cultures and ages. But their effectiveness varies widely. Are there essential ingredients to educational programs with demonstrated benefit that comprise a core for asthma education regardless of setting? What asthma management behaviors are reasonable to expect for children of different ages, and what educational methods are most likely to help children adopt these behaviors? This
EDUCATION?
