Giving someone with asthma a personal asthma plan will help reduce:
- the impact of asthma on their everyday life
- the risk of them being admitted to hospital
- the risk of a potentially life threatening asthma attack
These benefits are outlined in a new report from the charity which reveals that whilst scientific evidence proves that giving people with asthma such written information improves their symptom control and reduces their use of health services, the vast majority of UK health professionals do not in reality do so. UK health professionals are the least likely in the whole of Europe to give out personal asthma plans because of a lack of time or access to suitable materials.
National Asthma Campaign chief executive Anne Smith said:
“It is extremely saddening that despite all we know about asthma care, people with asthma are suffering unnecessarily. Our report shows that giving people with asthma something as simple as written information can dramatically improve their everyday lives and this is why it is so vital, and why we have joined forces with many organisations including the Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Nursing and the British Thoracic Society.”
For more information about Be in control, you can contact your doctor or nurse, visit your local Superdrug or Lloydspharmacy for information, or alternatively call the charity’s Asthma Helpline (open weekdays, 9am to 7pm on 0845 7 01 02 03) or visit its website at www.asthma.org.uk.
Be in Control
Highlighting the need for self management
Launch Rationale
The urgent need to improve the way people manage their own asthma is highlighted by research showing that too many are living with poorly controlled symptoms which seriously disrupt their everyday lives. The impact of asthma extends beyond the individual to cost the NHS £730 million a year and the UK economy £0.7 billion a year (through 17 million working days lost ).
Much of these costs and suffering are unnecessary. Evidence shows that with good support from their healthcare professional, people suffer less if they take the lead themselves in managing their long-term condition. With asthma, when people use written self management plans, studies show them to have less attacks and emergency admissions which in turn reduces direct and indirect health costs.
The Be in control initiative aims to have written self management plans available to and used by more people with asthma. It is a call to action for healthcare professionals to ensure they offer self management plans as an integral part of routine asthma care.
Who's in control
To inform the Be in control initiative, the National Asthma Campaign has completed an extensive review of evidence for the use of written self management plans, summarised in a report called Asthma – Who’s in control? The findings demonstrate that the use of written self management plans produce the following benefits:
- Reduction in asthma symptoms
- Improvements in lung function
- Reduction in attack frequency due to prompt response to deterioration in condition
- Reduction in requirement for reliever treatment
- Reduction in inappropriate use of antibiotics
- Improvements in compliance
- Improvements in quality of life
A number of studies have also shown the following cost benefits of self management:
- Savings of up to £7 for every £1.60 spent on implementing a self management programme
- Reduction in the use of healthcare resources: Accident and Emergency visits, unscheduled physician visits, hospitalisations and re-admissions to hospital
- Reduction in time off work or school
Needs of people with asthma research
The need to call for improved asthma care through the use of self management plans has been highlighted through several studies which investigate the impact of asthma. Research carried out by the National Asthma Campaign in 2000 showed that, of people with asthma questioned:
- less than half knew how to recognise the onset of an asthma attack
- over a quarter had not been shown how to use an inhaler
- one in five had not been given advice on what medication to take
- 40 per cent do not know how to respond when symptoms worsen
- three out of five had not been advised to avoid possible asthma triggers
- only half of smokers had been advised to stop
Early analysis of this study suggests that healthcare professionals may not be providing the advice and treatment needed for individuals to manage their asthma effectively from initial diagnosis. Alternatively some people with asthma may be receiving advice and treatment but not acting upon it. When an estimated 75 per cent of admissions for asthma are avoidable and as many as 90 per cent of deaths from asthma in the UK are preventable , improvements in the way that asthma is managed by both healthcare professionals and people with asthma are very much needed.
Research with healthcare professionals
Despite the wealth of evidence that the use of written self management plans benefits patients, healthcare professionals and the NHS, they are not widely used at present in the UK. Surveys of people with asthma found that only 6 – 9 per cent had received self management plans . Research carried out by the National Asthma Campaign with over 600 healthcare professionals also highlights this low usage.
Findings showed that:
- Although there was high awareness among all of the concept of self management, less than half of healthcare professionals with no special interest in asthma were familiar with self management plans (most people with asthma are cared for by healthcare professionals with no special interest).
- Where self management plans were provided, the majority were verbal (despite published evidence that written plans are more effective).
Development of materials
The healthcare professionals surveyed were also consulted to identify the style and content of self management materials which will encourage patients and healthcare professionals alike to use self management plans. The top three essential components of a written self management plan were agreed to be:
- what to do in an emergency
- what inhaler to use, when and how to use it and what dose
- how to recognise symptom deterioration
These three elements form the basis of the new self management materials developed as part of the Be in control initiative and have been successfully piloted with people with asthma.
Be in Control initiative
The National Asthma Campaign have used the results of research with healthcare professionals and people with asthma to inform and develop the Be in control initiative. This initiative aims to make self management a priority for people with asthma and healthcare professionals by:
- Producing resource materials for health professionals and patients including:
*A personal asthma plan – for use by anyone who has asthma. It provides the basic and essential information that all people with asthma need to know in order to effectively manage their condition
*A personal asthma diary – more detailed information for people who have moderate to severe gasthma or poor symptom control.
*Ask the right questions – a folder of key questions that a healthcare professionals and person with asthma should consider discussing to ensure the person with asthma has all the right information to manage their condition
- Joining forces with Superdrug and Lloydspharmacy. Leaflets will be available free, in all stores nationwide from 28th January.
- Partnering with other organisations to endorse and promote the initiative (see press release).
Supporting statements for The National Asthma campaign's Be in Control initiative, launched 30th January 2001
Welcoming the National Asthma Campaign initiative, Be in Control, Royal College of Nursing General Secretary, Christine Hancock, said:
"This is an important new initiative which will bring real benefits to people with asthma. We know that, when people are given the skills to manage their own condition, they can reduce its impact on their everyday lives. Nurses with the right education, expertise and resources can play a major role in giving patients the knowledge and confidence they need."
Professor Sir George Alberti, President of the Royal College of Physicians said:
"We greatly welcome the publication of Be in Control by the National Asthma Campaign. This is a major step in the right direction and a fine example of an organisation providing concrete help for people to take responsibility for their own health. It will significantly reduce suffering as well as costs to both the individual and society."
Kristin McCarthy, Director, British Medical Association’s Doctor Patient Partnership said:
"Enabling patients to take control and manage their own health is the priority for the Doctor Patient Partnership. Ensuring patients know which is the best place to go for help and helping them to self medicate confidently means patients are more able to manage their health and so get the best out of NHS services.
"We fully support the National Asthma Campaign’s move to encourage self management plans for dealing with asthma. With such a high number of people suffering from asthma symptoms needlessly clearly a great deal can be achieved by equipping them with the tools to help themselves. This initiative can only serve to improve the quality of life of people with asthma."
The government’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Liam Donaldson said of the report Asthma – Who’s in control? (which reviews the impact of asthma in the UK and forms the evidence for the Be in control initiative)
"I am delighted to see that self management has been adopted as the central theme for the National Asthma Campaign’s comprehensive report Asthma - Who’s in control? It is particularly encouraging to note the report’s advocacy of support from a range of healthcare professionals for the extension and development of initiatives designed to help those people with chronic asthma who wish to maintain control of their lives. This is key feature in both the Our Healthier Nation public health strategy and the new NHS Plan, and is also central to the work of the Expert Patients Task Force."
