A COMMUNITY-WIDE PROMOTION OF ASTHMA SELF-MANAGEMENT - PROCESS EVALUATION

Aims. During the months February through July 1991, a community wide p romotion of asthma self-management was undertaken as a pilot study for the national launch of an asthma action plan developed by the Asthma Foundation of New Zealand in conjunction with the Royal New Zealand Co llege of General Practitioners. Methods. A multidisciplinary team of h ospital and community-based health workers was established, with the a im of educating and resourcing general practitioners, practice nurses and retail pharmacists to enable them to effectively promote and distr ibute the asthma action plan. 332 general practitioners and 148 retail pharmacists were surveyed through postal and telephone questionnaires at the completion of the promotion, to assess its impact on health pr ofessionals and to obtain feedback for the national promotion of the a sthma action plan.Results. 108 (73%) of pharmacists who responded and were involved with the promotion found their participation to be worth while, although some had difficulty allocating sufficient time to give detailed advice to patients. Of the 240 general practitioners who res ponded, 77% indicated that they had used the asthma action plan with t heir patients. They were positive about the use of the workshop format that had provided education and resources for the plan, and of those that had used the plan, 94% indicated that they would continue to prom ote the plan, or one similar. Conclusions. The promotion of the asthma action plan in Canterbury had a major impact on health professionals. The community-wide promotion might have had a greater impact on peopl e with asthma had television advertising been used. The pilot project provided useful feedback for the Asthma Foundation in their preparatio n for the national launch.