Generally Practicing
Specifically for nurses working in General Practice or Primary care in the United Kingdom. Discussing upcoming changes or challenges and picking through the unique world of GP Nursing.
Disclaimer - this is for information purposes only and may reflect personal opinions. Nothing within this podcast constitutes medical advice and should not be taken as such. Always seek advice from a health care professional regarding any medical conditions or queries.
Generally Practicing
Asthma Week 38: The September Spike
Send us a text (don’t worry it’s not a real text and we don’t get your number)
Week 38 or "September Asthma Peak" causes a dangerous spike in childhood asthma hospital admissions as children return to school and encounter new triggers after potentially reducing medication over summer.
• Four key steps to prevent asthma attacks during the September peak
• Getting a written asthma action plan reduces hospital admissions by four times
• Proper inhaler technique ensures medication effectiveness
• Regular asthma reviews help keep treatment on track
• Identifying and managing air quality triggers, both indoor and outdoor
• Parents should ensure schools have copies of action plans and accessible medications
• Teachers need to know which students have asthma and how to help during an attack
• Healthcare professionals should promote the #AskAboutAsthma campaign
• Asthma affects children year-round but September represents a particularly high-risk period
Please like and share our socials, and if you can give us a star rating wherever you listen, that helps with the algorithms. Don't forget to ask about asthma this September.
Here are some resources;
Asthma + Lung UK Parents Resources - Support for parents + carers | Asthma + Lung UK
Asthma + Lung UK Videos for all types of inhaler device - Search use the link to navigate through their demo archive
Inhalers and Medicines Support - Your child's inhalers and medicines | Asthma + Lung UK
Asthma Action Plan's - Your child’s asthma action plan | Asthma + Lung UK
Asthma Attach Advice - What to do if your child has an asthma attack | Asthma + Lung UK and Asthma - NHS
Managing Asthma - Managing your child's asthma | Asthma +
Follow us on social media
We really appreciate any likes, comments or shares. Please also feel free to suggest any topics you would like to see us cover.
Hello and welcome to Generally Practising. We have had a lovely summer, but now we are back and hopefully we're ready to bring you some more educational and supportive topics in this space that we have created for you.
La Toya:Hi everyone. So today's episode it's a bit of an introduction to the spotlight that we want to do about asthma and we've got some really exciting things planned about asthma on the way. So today we thought we'll start with an opportunity to highlight something that's really important for families, school and the healthcare team. It's called Asthma Week 38 and sometimes some people call it September Asthma Peak. Have you heard of it?
Ashleigh:So, yeah, every year right around mid-september, we unfortunately have this global phenomenon of a sudden spike in asthma related hospital admissions for children and young people. It's called week 38 because of the time of year that it happens, and so it's a focus of campaigns you might have seen on social media. Hashtag ask about asthma.
La Toya:So what is week 38? And why week 38? Well, the 38th week of the year usually falls between the 17th and the 23rd of September, and that's when schools have just gone back, children have just returned and children are suddenly exposed to lots of new triggers. These could be things like cold, viruses and indoor and outdoor allergens.
Ashleigh:And so here's the problem that over the summer, many children can potentially ease off some of their medication. Their airways can then become more sensitive again, and when they go back to school, the combination of the things that Latoya's just mentioned can lead to a surge in asthma attacks. Some studies have shown that up to 60% of these flare-ups are linked with the common cold virus, rhinovirus, which obviously, when they go back to school, there's far more exposure to those sorts of viruses as well.
La Toya:So there's this lovely campaign. It's called the #AskAboutAsthma campaign and to get ahead of it, we really wanted to raise awareness, and you may have seen it this #AskAboutAsthma every September and it's usually around on social media just before week 38, and for this year it's running from the 8th to the 11th of September and the campaign focuses on four simple but powerful asks for children, young people and the adults supporting them.
Ashleigh:So the first ask is to get a written asthma action plan. Kids with one are four times less likely to be admitted to hospital, so the plan should be personalised to them and give step-up advice if appropriate, depending on the individual's medication, and it should detail what to do in an asthma attack and need to make sure that school have a copy of the action plan, and so if you don't have one now, then it is time to talk to your practice nurse if you or your child does not have an asthma action plan at the minute.
La Toya:The second ask is it's all about good inhaler technique and, believe it or not, many people are not taking inhalers correctly, which means they're actually not getting the benefit of their medication. Link in the bottom in our notes where you can watch some videos which will show you about good inhaler technique and, if you're not sure, you can speak to your practice nurse or even your local pharmacist can help you to demonstrate what good inhaler technique is or give you any support that you need with inhaler technique.
Ashleigh:The third ask is to have a regular asthma review, so this should be at least once a year and absolutely after every attack or hospital admission, and this is to make sure that we are keeping your treatment on track.
La Toya:And the fourth ask. Think about air quality, both indoor and outdoor, because pollution and allergen may make a big difference. So if you're aware of what your triggers are and taking steps to identify them and taking action when you are exposed to your trigger, that will make a big difference so these are the cornerstones of keeping children's asthma under control and everyone's asthma, really but we're thinking specifically about children at the minute, especially during this high risk September peak.
La Toya:Why does this matter? Asthma is still one of the most common long-term conditions in children and also adults. It can be really frightening when someone has an asthma attack, but with the right care awareness, most asthma attacks are preventable and the aim of asthma week 38 and the hashtag ask about asthma campaign is to raise that awareness, to prevent hospital admissions and ultimately it's about saving someone's life.
Ashleigh:So how can you get involved? What can you do If you're a parent? Check your child has an action plan and practice inhaler technique together. Make sure their school has a copy of their asthma action plan and any medications that they may need in school. Make sure your child knows when to ask for their medication if they need support with administering in school, and look out for signs of changes in asthma control.
La Toya:And if you're a teacher, make sure you know which students have asthma and keep inhalers accessible. I know some schools have a pouch that they the kids inhalers are there and it's very, very accessible. Teachers, ensure you're aware of to seek emergency care and also think about what handy tools you can have to make that. If if a child do has an exacerbation or an asthma attack, what can you do? How can you be aware or keep an eye on those children? Making sure that relevant people know within the school community so that we can keep the children safe and if you're a healthcare professional, share the campaign resources and encourage reviews.
Ashleigh:If you're on social media, help spread the word using the hashtag hashtag ask about asthma and we'll put some things and that will be quite useful on our social media as well and pop some links in the the show notes below that's all for today's episode, but we have some really exciting episodes coming up soon about asthma.
La Toya:And remember asthma don't really take a break where we know it's episodic but some people it's in the summertime, others is in the winter. So we always need to be aware. But with the right steps we know we can keep our children safe.
Ashleigh:We can keep the young people safe, healthy, and the ultimate aim is to keep their asthma under control as I've said, we'll put some links in the show notes that can be really helpful and we'll link videos of techniques and resources and thank you so much for listening. Please do like and share our socials um, and, if you can give us um a star rating, uh, wherever you listen, that does help with the algorithms. And don't forget to ask about asthma this september.
