Improving Childhood Asthma Management

About the project

This project aims to improve childhood asthma management in Melbourne’s north and west. We’re partnering with consumers and healthcare providers to:

• Reduce emergency presentation across 4 hospitals:
  • The Northern Hospital
  • Royal Children's Hospital
  • Sunshine Hospital
  • Werribee Mercy
• Increase children and carers being involved in their care as much as they want to be
• Increase the utilisation of community asthma programs.

Objectives

• Reduce avoidable emergency department presentations & subsequent hospitalisation
• Improve adherence & clinician capability in managing asthma in accordance with best practice care
• Improve the ability for children and their carers to manage asthma at home
• Increase quality improvement capability in health service teams
• Establish effective partnerships between hospital, community,  primary & virtual care in asthma management
• Inform ways to spread & scale towards a statewide paediatric asthma QI project

Background

Asthma is one the leading causes of paediatric hospital presentations in Victoria and remains a strong independent predictor of future hospitalisation despite many of these identified as potentially preventable.

Children living within Melbourne's north and west metropolitan region are disproportionately impacted by chronic conditions resulting in increased ED presentation rates related to asthma and/or wheeze.

How to get involved

To get in touch with a member of the team at Safer Care Victoria, please email icam@safercare.vic.gov.au.

Solution design

This initiative is using the demonstration collaborative design to build a greater degree of belief and evidence in the theory of change. This will be done across different health care settings within the north and west of Melbourne including acute hospitals, community asthma programs and virtual services.

The theory of change is built from the core key change concepts that evidence shows make the biggest impact on good asthma care for children- the “MAGIC”

• Medication provision
• Asthma action plan
• GP integration
• Inhaler and spacer technique
• Community asthma program

Our impact so far

Thanks to this collaborative effort, families are now walking out of hospital with more than just a prescription. They have the knowledge, confidence and support to better manage their child’s asthma at home. At participating sites, we have seen some incredible results:

• 651 children received better medications to help ensure their asthma is well controlled at home.
• 131 families received high-quality asthma care by linking with community asthma programs.
• 84% of children and their carers received high-standard, teach-back education about how to use inhalers and spacers correctly (up from 39%).
• 51% of children leaving hospital had their next follow-up GP appointment already booked (something not routinely done previously). 

This project is reshaping how care is delivered, making it more consistent, connected and responsive. Services are collaborating more closely, and new models of care like virtual clinics are opening doors to flexible, familyfriendly care options.