Medication Use in Children with Asthma: Not a Child Size Problem

Abstract

These key issues should be taken into account when modifying the development of educational tools. These tools should focus on targeting the children themselves, the parent/carers, the health-care professionals, and various organizational systems.

Medication adherence and the risk of severe asthma exacerbations: a systematic review

“…Nevertheless, all of these methods can overestimate adherence and there remains a number of complex issues affecting optimal medication use in children with asthma, e.g. a lack of parental knowledge about asthma medications, parental beliefs and fears, and the child's self-image [54].…”

PACE: Pharmacists use the power of communication in paediatric asthma

“…A recent study by Grover and colleagues identified a key barrier to the management of paediatric asthma in primary care to be the inability of health care professionals to effectively communicate with the patient/ carer [5,9]. In further support of this point, 38 % of Australian parents feel they do not have enough information about their child's asthma [8].…”

“…Additionally, despite the proven benefit of written asthma self management plans, currently less than 50 % of Australian children with asthma own one [6]. This may be attributed to the gap that exists between evidence based recommended practice and the current practice of health care professionals in managing paediatric asthma in primary care [5,7,8]. This emphasises the need to facilitate the translation of national guidelines into primary care.…”

“…Despite the availability of national asthma guidelines, which focus not only on specific medical treatment, but also on the skills of health care professionals and their ability to facilitate patient self-management, paediatric asthma continues to be a major contributor to the burden of illness in children [2][3][4]. The resultant uncontrolled asthma has widespread impact resulting in time off school and work for the child and carer respectively, sleep deprivation and reduced quality of life, thus imposing an economic burden on the carer and the Australian health system [5]. Additionally, despite the proven benefit of written asthma self management plans, currently less than 50 % of Australian children with asthma own one [6].…”

Interactions Between Caregivers and Young Children

“…However, the majority of the research that has been conducted in the area of children's respiratory diseases consists of quantitative studies which lack analysis of attitudes, behaviors, experiences, and indepth opinions of central stakeholders (Grover, Armour, Van Asperen, Moles, & Saini, 2011). Our study is an attempt to recognize children's perspectives and agency as patients.…”