Improving Patient Adherence: The Asthma Template

Abstract

Despite the availability of effective asthma therapies, asthma remains poorly controlled, causes significant morbidity, and often prompts costly emergency care in children. Many of the adverse consequences of asthma result from the failure of preventive therapy due to poor adherence to treatment. Only approximately 50% of medication is taken as prescribed in children with asthma. Numerous treatment-, patient-, and clinician-related barriers to patient adherence have been described, many of which can be addressed through the development of a partnership between the clinician and the patient and/or the family, effective education, and optimal self-management training. The key elements of asthma self-management include open communication, individualized education, goal setting, establishing and maintaining asthma action plans, and the review, repetition, and reinforcement of key concepts in asthma management. Clinical trials have demonstrated that programs designed to educate patients and teach self-management techniques can improve outcomes and be cost-effective. More research is needed to determine the most effective and efficient types of patient education and self-management training.