Summative Approach to Asthma Management - Essay Example

"Summative Approach to Asthma Management" is a decent example of a paper on the respiratory system.
A sufficient knowledge of asthma encompassing detailed information on the recognition of distinctive signs and symptoms as well as management is crucial in health care plans. It is with this awakening that The Attacking Asthma Education Fair was set up to provide an approach for assisting the community to acquire education for dealing with in accordance with the established organization including National Asthma Education and Prevention Program guidelines. The outreach also captures attention by written pamphlets that increase the expressivity for the signs and symptoms.

Before embarking on discussing the causes of asthma, the approach defines asthma as an inflammatory airway disease that presents with breathlessness and characteristic chest tightness which may be coupled to wheezing or coughing and in some instances both. This is triggered by a number of factors which are either environmental or genetic predisposition. The bronchial hyperresponsiveness is mostly induced by allergens in susceptible individuals which can be pollen in the flowering season or simple dust. There is a notable correlation between the attacks of acute asthma and exacerbation by smoking. This is explained by the irritation of the airway by smoke and interference of surfactant production. Another important cause is exercise, which induces bronchospasm in certain individuals who also have a high likelihood to status asthmatics in cold weather (Holgate & Douglas). Prevention can be therefore attained by avoiding allergens and smoke.

In as much as prevention is a paramount aim in the program, the investigation of the mass for cases of asthma has been included in the events planned. This includes centers for carrying out tests for asthma. The most targeted tests are those which detect early signs such as peak flow rate meters with Oximetry and arterial blood gas sensors to help in distinguishing asthma from COPDs where the latter is a chronic obstructive crisis of less reversibility. The assessment areas provide participants with additional services like consultation, which are second to the physical examination (Platts-Mill, 2009).

Basic skills in management are supplied in the plan. Here the steps on how to use an inhaler especially dose actuation appropriate placement on the mouth and releasing each dose after an episode of exhalation are provided to the people. Spacers’ usage among children is another important skill. Everyone concedes that inhaler use in the pediatric can be a challenge, unlike the geriatrics that is more compliant to medicine use (Platts-Mill, 2009).

Having all this medical knowledge is important empowerment to developing the action plan.  The severity of asthma can be viewed in three main categories that can be effectively presented in a traffic light code format. The green region is the safest where symptoms are more controlled and patients can live a relatively normal life under emergence medication like beta-agonists for combating attacks. However, severity increases in the yellow and red regions. Important signs and symptoms that are associated with each is indicated under each zone as well as the medication and necessary action to be taken. Such information as doctor’s contact on anaphylactic asthma attack and fatal dyspnea attack could culminate in hypoxemia and ischemic organ infarction. All this is to promote herd awareness and personal intervention on the prevention and management of asthma, which is rising at high incidence in the United States of America (Holgate & Douglas).