[Asthma training in children and adolescents]

In Germany, asthma training courses have been available for a number of years now. The efficacy of these courses in terms of quality of life improvement and the economics of such training has been demonstrated unequivocally. In the present study, the development of asthma training in Germany is discussed. In recent years, in particular, it has been shown that the involvement of the patient's family is of considerable importance. In addition, in the practical work of the asthma trainer, instruments for quality testing and quality control of presently established concepts have been developed, which guarantee a high standard of most pediatric training programs. The interdisciplinary aspect has an eminently important role to play: the cooperation on equal footing of various occupational groups enables the team to adopt a number of different options with regard to their pupils and their families. A model providing a description of coping with the disease on a number of different levels has been worked out (8-level model). In the concept developed by the pediatric hospital in Osnabrück, the social aspect in relation to the child takes pride of place.