A Hastings asthma control project was recognised with the Supreme Award at the 9th annual Hawke's Bay Health Awards which were presented in Napier tonight. The award was made to the Hastings Unichem Pharmacy, in Russell St, supported by The Doctors, Hastings, and Breathe Hawke's Bay, recognising its education and improvement tool development "Helping Maori and Pacific Island Children breathe better".
It targeted families waiting for asthma prescriptions and included a respiratory "warrant of fitness" check while waiting for their medication to be dispensed.
As a result of the initiative, amid higher rates of hospital admissions for respiratory disease, 12 families took part in a six-month trial aiming to improve their ACT (Asthma Control Test) scores, and introduced interventions to help patients better manage their conditions.
It included checking inhaler use, and referrals for healthy-home checks, leading to the average ACT score increasing from 13.7 to 21.7, with 83 percent reaching the target of 19 out of 25, regarded as "good control". Consequently, fewer emergency steroids were needed and more preventer inhalers were dispensed.
The early results have been so "overwhelming" that the group involved wants the project delivered throughout Hawke's Bay.