[The educational component in an integrated approach to bronchial asthma].
Bronchial asthma is an inflammatory chronic disease of the respiratory tract whose prevalence is increasing worldwide. Since there is no curative treatment available, the principal objective of every approach is to control the disease and to improve the quality of life of patients. Over the last few decades, intervention programs supplementing conventional medical treatments have been tested and implemented. The majority of such programs consist of educational interventions or include some type of educational component. In this study, we attempted to determine the characteristics and the impact of educational interventions on asthma by means of the following: a) an updated review of the various educational interventions developed and implemented for asthma patients; b) the identification of aspects that are common to all of these interventions; and c) the analysis of the findings in the literature regarding the impact that these interventions have on the health and quality of life of patients. We conclude that educational interventions are effective in improving the health and quality of life of asthma patients, as well as in reducing the use and costs of health resources. These findings indicate the importance of including an educational component as part of an integrated approach to this population. Likewise, the inherent complexity of the educational process highlights the importance of a complementary joint effort including various health professionals.
Fasciglione
María Paola
MP
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentina, Mar del Plata, Argentina. paolafasciglione@gmail.com
Castañeiras
Claudia Elena
CE
D001249:Asthma / Q000628:therapy*; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life