Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling

Objective: Improper use and poor understanding of asthma medications can lead to poorly controlled asthma, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for children with asthma. Pharmacists play a critical role in improving asthma medication adherence through education on asthma self-management...

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Main Authors: Lea C. Dikranian, D. Elizabeth Irish, Kathleen E. Shanley, Don R. Walker, Stephen K. de Waal Malefyt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:PEC Innovation
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772628224000785
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author Lea C. Dikranian
D. Elizabeth Irish
Kathleen E. Shanley
Don R. Walker
Stephen K. de Waal Malefyt
author_facet Lea C. Dikranian
D. Elizabeth Irish
Kathleen E. Shanley
Don R. Walker
Stephen K. de Waal Malefyt
author_sort Lea C. Dikranian
collection DOAJ
description Objective: Improper use and poor understanding of asthma medications can lead to poorly controlled asthma, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for children with asthma. Pharmacists play a critical role in improving asthma medication adherence through education on asthma self-management. The use of color-coded labels applied at pharmacies to help patients differentiate between rescue and maintenance inhalers has not been explored. Methods: Pharmacies were recruited to join a community pharmacy asthma coalition. Pharmacists provided patient education and labeled inhalers with two types of color-coded stickers. A red sticker labeled “RESCUE” was used for short-acting β-2 agonist medication inhalers. A green sticker labeled “USE EVERY DAY” was used for inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) or combination ICS/long-acting β-2 agonist medication inhalers. Results: During the two years of the pilot program, 25 pharmacy locations participated. Pharmacies labeled over 6000 rescue and 9000 controller medications using color-coded labels. Over 1000 children and 7000 adults were served by the coalition. Conclusion: Color-coded asthma medication labels can be successfully utilized by pharmacies. This low-cost tool provides vital information regarding the proper use of asthma medications. Innovation: The color-coded labeling of asthma medications is a novel innovation that can be successfully used by pharmacists to improve asthma self-management education.
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spelling doaj-art-044480d215934def9019479c6e77e2f82024-12-14T06:34:22ZengElsevierPEC Innovation2772-62822024-12-015100330Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labelingLea C. Dikranian0D. Elizabeth Irish1Kathleen E. Shanley2Don R. Walker3Stephen K. de Waal Malefyt4Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, United States of AmericaAlbany Medical Center, Albany, NY, United States of AmericaCommunity Care Physicians, Albany, NY, United States of AmericaUniversity of Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, United States of AmericaAlbany Medical Center, Albany, NY, United States of America; Corresponding author at: Department of Pediatrics, Albany Medical Center, 391 Myrtle Avenue #3A, Albany, NY 12208, United States of America.Objective: Improper use and poor understanding of asthma medications can lead to poorly controlled asthma, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations for children with asthma. Pharmacists play a critical role in improving asthma medication adherence through education on asthma self-management. The use of color-coded labels applied at pharmacies to help patients differentiate between rescue and maintenance inhalers has not been explored. Methods: Pharmacies were recruited to join a community pharmacy asthma coalition. Pharmacists provided patient education and labeled inhalers with two types of color-coded stickers. A red sticker labeled “RESCUE” was used for short-acting β-2 agonist medication inhalers. A green sticker labeled “USE EVERY DAY” was used for inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) or combination ICS/long-acting β-2 agonist medication inhalers. Results: During the two years of the pilot program, 25 pharmacy locations participated. Pharmacies labeled over 6000 rescue and 9000 controller medications using color-coded labels. Over 1000 children and 7000 adults were served by the coalition. Conclusion: Color-coded asthma medication labels can be successfully utilized by pharmacies. This low-cost tool provides vital information regarding the proper use of asthma medications. Innovation: The color-coded labeling of asthma medications is a novel innovation that can be successfully used by pharmacists to improve asthma self-management education.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772628224000785AsthmaAsthma action planAsthma self-managementPatient educationPharmaceutical counselingPharmacy coalition
spellingShingle Lea C. Dikranian
D. Elizabeth Irish
Kathleen E. Shanley
Don R. Walker
Stephen K. de Waal Malefyt
Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling
PEC Innovation
Asthma
Asthma action plan
Asthma self-management
Patient education
Pharmaceutical counseling
Pharmacy coalition
title Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling
title_full Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling
title_fullStr Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling
title_full_unstemmed Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling
title_short Improving asthma self-management education through inhaler labeling
title_sort improving asthma self management education through inhaler labeling
topic Asthma
Asthma action plan
Asthma self-management
Patient education
Pharmaceutical counseling
Pharmacy coalition
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772628224000785
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