Asthma Patient Education Information for Physicians

The following points should be addressed during patient visits:

• Identify and address all environmental triggers.
• Non-adherence is common. Identify and address the causes. Long-acting drugs, with once or twice a day dosing promotes adherence.
• Prepare a written Asthma Action Plan for home and school use. The development of a written Asthma Action Plan by the physician and encouragement of its use is a crucial component of collaborative self-management; i.e., the patient's active participation in his/her own care.
• Stress the importance of smoking cessation and the avoidance of exposure of children with asthma, to passive cigarette smoke, at every opportunity.
• Stress the importance of early recognition of asthma worsening, followed by prompt, early intervention.
• Above all, stress that asthma is a chronic, very treatable yet potentially fatal disease that requires vigilance, monitoring and adherence, with early intervention.