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The unwelcomed allergy season has returned. At CHEO, clinical leaders support patients and families navigating the challenges of asthma, a condition frequently exacerbated during this seasonal onslaught.
May 7 is also World Asthma Day, which highlights the third-most common chronic disease in Canada affecting more than 3.8 million Canadians, including 850,000 children under the age of 14.
Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways that causes symptoms like shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing. Asthma causes swelling and narrowing of tubes in the lungs, which leads to low airflow and difficulty breathing.
Yusuf Hamidi, Advanced Practice Nurse in the Respirology Clinic at CHEO, helps run full comprehensive asthma education sessions to communicate advice to families and medical staff. These sessions mostly take place virtually and at the bedside for patients.
As a CHEO Best Practice Champion, his work focuses on the Best Practice Guideline (BPG)called promoting asthma control in children. In March 2023, CHEO achieved designate status as a Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) by implementing five BPGs.
Hamidi, who has been at CHEO since 2020, said families often have some knowledge of asthma because of how common it is in Ontario. That helps when he shares the five pillars of asthma management including:
- Use of controller medication every day.
- Early use of reliever medication as soon as symptoms begin.
- Use of the proper device spacer with appropriate technique.
- Identify asthma trigger(s).
- Follow the individualized Asthma Action Plan.
He hopes, by emphasizing these five pillars, families can better manage asthma symptoms at home and avoid repeated trips to the emergency room. Hamidi said one of the most important discussions usually happens involving the proper use of a device spacer.
“It’s really important because it could increase medication administration by about 45 percent, which is quite significant,” he said.
CHEO's journey to achieve the BPSO designation signifies a long-term commitment to deliver the highest standards of care to our patients and families. It has offered nurses and other health-care providers the additional tools, support, and resources to aid children and youth to live their best life.