Component 4: Education and Management

Successful asthma treatment can be attributed to 10% medication and 90% education.

NEISD developed a four component comprehensive approach to asthma control that provides a proactive strategy to address the most common childhood disease that generates multi-day, recurring absenteeism. Using a collective approach, we educate not only our staff in asthma awareness, but  also provide education and disease management strategies for our students and parents. This brings awareness to asthmatics, as well as undiagnosed asthmatics, in order for them to receive self-management tools and the empowerment to understand and control the disease. By closing the gap between parents and the medical community, we can help parents improve their child’s quality of life by educating them on the tools available to achieve asthma control.

The Asthma Control Test (ACT - adult)    ACT (child 4-11)  is an assessment tool that can be used to identify uncontrolled asthma.  This test can help identify and assess the asthmatic to determine if medication is adequate and/or assess if environmental influences are causing worsing symptoms and impacting quality of life.

NEISD works with many health care partners in and around San Antonio to raise asthma awareness, education, expectations and disease management strategies.   The video Asthma Education for Children and their Families was a collaboration between NEISD Asthma Awareness Education Program and Dr. Kelly Smith. a San Antonio Pediatric Pulmonologist.