Pediatric Asthma: Identifying Educational Gaps Between Providers and Caregivers

Asthma is one of the most prevalent chronic medical conditions in children. It contributes to millions of office visits and emergency department visits nationally every year. While this disease is becoming increasingly common in our society, there are major inconsistencies in education to both providers and primary caregivers of children with asthma. Ineffective education about asthma management contributes to increased mortality and morbidity of this disease. This project intends to address education limitations seen in an outpatient setting by providing an educational brochure to be given out to pediatric asthma patients and caregivers of pediatric patients. This educational tool is intended to serve as a reference to summarize and reinforce key components of asthma management education. By providing an easily understood educational reference tool for pediatric asthma patients and caregivers of pediatric asthma patients, this handout is intended to improve the management of asthma in outpatient settings. Improving asthma management has the potential to decrease healthcare costs associated with uncontrolled asthma, decrease mortality and morbidity of the disease, improve quality of life, and increase the confidence of pediatric patients and caregivers of pediatric patients in managing this disease.