On June 26, representatives from 7 healthcare services participating in the Improving Childhood Asthma Management (ICAM) collaborative convened for their third learning session.
The session began with consumer stories that underscored the importance of asthma care improvement efforts. These contributions offered valuable insights into the lived experiences of families managing childhood asthma.
We highlighted some of the improvements we have seen across our sites, including the percentage of children and families who receive teach-back education on correctly using their inhaler and spacer rising from a baseline of 40% to over 80%.
Throughout the day, participants from both acute and community health sectors shared their progress, including key learnings and implementation challenges, as part of storyboard discussions. These presentations reflected the range of approaches tested through the 68 Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles submitted to date.
ICAM Clinical Lead, Dr Shivanthan Shanthikumar, delivered a presentation focused on the complexities of pre-school asthma care. The discussion highlighted potential strategies for strengthening support for children and families in this area.
In the afternoon, breakout sessions facilitated collaboration between acute and community services, with a focus on addressing issues such as access to preventer medications at discharge and improved referral pathways to community asthma programs. Teams also reviewed the MAGIC change package to assess current implementation strengths and identify opportunities for refinement.
The session concluded with planning discussions around sustainability and integration of improvements into routine practice. Participating services will continue to work towards embedding effective changes into standard care.
What's next
In November, we will host a final event to reflect on progress and formally close the collaborative.
More information
To learn more about the project, see Improving Childhood Asthma Management.
To contact us, email icam@safercare.vic.gov.au.
