Author Archives: Jackie Aim

Example of an asthma action plan

Remember NHS 24
The telephone number is: 111

What you need to know about asthma action plans

Personalised Asthma Action Plans have been shown to help parents, children and their families manage asthma safely.
You MUST follow your action plan and take the action as advised.
The plan is designed to keep your child safe and make sure your child is seen at an early stage by a doctor or nurse BEFORE things get too bad.

Important

DON’T STAY AT HOME IF YOUR PLAN TELLS YOU TO GET A MEDICAL REVIEW.

How to use your child’s asthma action plan

Examples of asthma plans

Your nurse will talk it through with you when they write it out.
This is should be a joint discussion between the nurse, you and your child if they are old enough to understand.
The plan will have 3 or 4 “zones” usually in the form of traffic lights -green, yellow/amber and red.
Each zone tells you what action to take if you see no symptoms, mild symptoms, worsening symptoms or an emergency.

How to get an asthma action plan for your child

Child/ girl being shown how to use volumatic inhaler to treat asthma. Mother and nurse.

It is important to have an asthma action plan for your child as this will give you specific information about what to do if your child shows the early signs of an attack. You can then follow the plan and, if caught in the early stages, you can prevent it getting worse, prevent distress for you and your child and prevent the need for a hospital admission. It will also tell you what to do if they are not responding to the usual inhalers and when to call for help or an ambulance in an emergency.

Ask your child’s nurse about an asthma action plan. This can be either the practice nurse at your own GP surgery or their specialist nurse at hospital if you have one.

16 years plus

By the age of sixteen they are classed as an adult.
May still benefit from supervision, reminding and help to get to appointments and prescriptions.
They may be transferring from the child asthma services which they have been familiar with to adult asthma services.
Your focus as a parent should be on stepping back and assisting when they ask or encouraging them to take control of their asthma.
They should be able to recognise symptoms and know how to manage their own asthma.
They should be able to manage a whole consultation or appointment on their own.

15 years

Busy year at school with national exams.
Don’t want asthma to interfere with their life.
Often choose to use their inhalers and take more responsibility for this.
Some teenagers will be tempted by risky behaviours such as alcohol, drugs or smoking. Look out for this as it can affect their asthma control and effectiveness of their medicines.
Should be able to take inhalers and be the main participant of the consultation with their asthma team.
Parents should be more reassured that the teenager knows their own asthma and how to manage it.
Still need help getting to appointments and to collect prescriptions.

10 – 12 years old

As the child grows they will often be so busy and distracted they don’t even notice their symptoms.
You will say “take your inhaler” and they will say “in a minute” and in a minute will probably have forgotten!
Your child needs constant reminders to take inhalers until a regular routine is established.
They still need parental supervision when using their inhalers but they should be able to take them independently.
Should be able to use a dry powder inhaler device or breath activated inhaler if they prefer.
Some children may start to feel self conscious about using an inhaler in front of class mates.
Keep a look out for any signs of bullying at this age.
Stress can make asthma symptoms worse.

7 – 10 years old

Children can start to understand cause and effect so they start to recognise when they are becoming breathless and what to do about it. Sometimes they will know what triggers to avoid.
They can identify how they feel.
They can sometimes feel symptoms before we can see them.
Listen to them and what they say!
They can start to understand that if they feel wheezy or cough, they should take their blue inhaler. It is important to teach them this is what to do if they are feeling unwell at school.
They learn the difference between preventer and reliever inhalers.
They still need a huge amount of support from parents to remind them to take inhalers but should be able to actually take them themselves with your supervision.
Don’t have unrealistic expectations of what your child can do on their own, they are still young.

4 – 6 years old

Some children at this age will be used to their inhalers and will take them with no problems.
Some may occasionally fight taking inhalers but this tends to happen less often as they get used to them and you can reason with the child to a some extent.
Parents still need to recognise and manage all aspects of their child’s asthma.
When your child starts school make sure that the school have supplies of inhalers which have your child’s name on and specific instructions about your child’s asthma. Check what support the school offers.
They are still too young to recognise their symptoms and know what they mean.
Parents are in charge – you are the person making the decision about how they are, even though this can be difficult with a feisty six year old.