Facilitating Care for Children With Asthma and Their Caregivers
Facilitating Care for Children With Asthma and Their Caregivers
As important members of the health care team, patients and caregivers must be empowered to recognize their asthma status and to act accordingly. Education about asthma, complications, and successful management of asthma provide the best way to empower children and their caregivers. A Shared Medical Appointment (SMA) is a unique health care delivery approach that integrates disease management and patient education. The SMA described here is a 90-minute group appointment for four to nine patients who share a diagnosis of asthma, bronchospasm, or wheeze and their caregivers. The appointment includes a brief individual examination, health education delivered to the group, and the opportunity for interaction between group members. Because a supporting theoretic framework is not identified in the original design proposals for the SMA model or in the literature on its use, for the purposes of this project, Social Cognitive Theory is identified as the theoretical framework that best explains and reinforces the benefits of the SMA. The theoretic framework is important to direct the development and continued success of this treatment model. This project report describes the first nurse practitioner-led SMA as a tool for improving quality of care and service for children with asthma and their caregivers.
The focus of this article is the effectiveness of an innovative group medical appointment model, the Shared Medical Appointment (SMA), for the management and treatment of children with asthma. The SMA addresses the challenges of providing health care to children with asthma and their caregivers. These challenges include: (a) access for patients, (b) treatment of the whole patient, including the emotional, behavioral, psychological, and lifestyle factors, (c) ongoing support and education, (d) partnerships between the patient and the clinician, (e) greater satisfaction for the clinician, and (f) economic feasibility (Schmucker, 2006). The challenges and success of this approach described in this article can inform the practice of other nurse practitioners (NPs) as a model of care for improving the management and treatment of children with asthma. Published literature on the SMA describes its use for adults and for general medicine and chronic illness, and thus this is not only the first known NP-led SMA but also the first known SMA for children with asthma in a pediatric primary care setting.
Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
As important members of the health care team, patients and caregivers must be empowered to recognize their asthma status and to act accordingly. Education about asthma, complications, and successful management of asthma provide the best way to empower children and their caregivers. A Shared Medical Appointment (SMA) is a unique health care delivery approach that integrates disease management and patient education. The SMA described here is a 90-minute group appointment for four to nine patients who share a diagnosis of asthma, bronchospasm, or wheeze and their caregivers. The appointment includes a brief individual examination, health education delivered to the group, and the opportunity for interaction between group members. Because a supporting theoretic framework is not identified in the original design proposals for the SMA model or in the literature on its use, for the purposes of this project, Social Cognitive Theory is identified as the theoretical framework that best explains and reinforces the benefits of the SMA. The theoretic framework is important to direct the development and continued success of this treatment model. This project report describes the first nurse practitioner-led SMA as a tool for improving quality of care and service for children with asthma and their caregivers.
Introduction
The focus of this article is the effectiveness of an innovative group medical appointment model, the Shared Medical Appointment (SMA), for the management and treatment of children with asthma. The SMA addresses the challenges of providing health care to children with asthma and their caregivers. These challenges include: (a) access for patients, (b) treatment of the whole patient, including the emotional, behavioral, psychological, and lifestyle factors, (c) ongoing support and education, (d) partnerships between the patient and the clinician, (e) greater satisfaction for the clinician, and (f) economic feasibility (Schmucker, 2006). The challenges and success of this approach described in this article can inform the practice of other nurse practitioners (NPs) as a model of care for improving the management and treatment of children with asthma. Published literature on the SMA describes its use for adults and for general medicine and chronic illness, and thus this is not only the first known NP-led SMA but also the first known SMA for children with asthma in a pediatric primary care setting.
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