Date
24 March 2024

Partner with whānau, parents and caregivers

Suggestion for implementing the strategy ‘Developing inclusive systems’

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Build relationships

Build relationships

Suggestions for working with parents, whānau, and caregivers.

  • Listen to family and whānau concerns about their child or young person's asthma.
  • Take time to follow up on asthma medical information to find out the supports that may be needed and what is helpful.
  • Talk with families and whānau about the importance of asthma action plans in supporting their child or young person.
  • Help families and whānau access asthma action plans, if there isn’t one in place.
  • Talk with families and whānau about common asthma triggers and work together to reduce these.
  • Talk with families and whānau about asthma medication and how this affects their child or young person.
  • Ask how you can support access to medication and identify when more support might be needed.
  • Find out the signs to look out for that indicate a child or young person's asthma is not under control.
  • Work together to understand any medical language or approaches, such as “reliever”, “ inhaler”, “asthma action plan”, that may be unfamiliar.

Understand parents’ concerns

Understand parents’ concerns

Continuity of asthma management when children are at school is a concern for all parents… Children were kept home frequently due to their asthma, with parents stating they didn’t have confidence that school staff managed their child’s asthma properly.

Create asthma friendly environments

Create asthma friendly environments

 

  1. Establish a process to identify children and young people with asthma.
  2. Allow children and young people easy access to reliever inhalers.
  3. Establish a process for handling worsening asthma.
  4. Identify and reduce exposure to common asthma triggers within the environment.
  5. Encourage children and young people with asthma to participate in all activities, especially physical activities.
  6. Provide staff, family, whānau, children, and young people with opportunities to learn about asthma.
  7. Collaborate with families, health care professionals, and staff to create asthma- friendly environments.

Source: Ophea – Healthy schools, healthy communities (opens in a new tab/window)

Useful resources

Useful resources

He Maramatanga Huango Asthma health literacy for Maori children in New Zealand

He Māramatanga Huangō: Asthma health literacy for Māori children in New Zealand

Read time: 158 min

This report address approaches to improving asthma outcomes for Māori children.

Publisher: Asthma NZ

Visit website

Website

Teen asthma: A teenagers guide to asthma

Information for teenagers explaining what asthma is, different types of medication and ways to keep fit and healthy.

Publisher: Asthma NZ

Visit website

Website

Asthma control test

A short online test in English or Māori containing five questions. The test is for adults or children. It provides a snapshot of how well your asthma has been controlled over the last four weeks.

Publisher: GSK group of companies

Visit website

Next steps

More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Develop inclusive systems”:

Return to the guide “Asthma and learning”

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