Asthma: lessons from patient education

Asthma is a common condition. Recent understanding of the disease has meant that the inflammatory process in the airways is likely to be treated by the regular use of preventative therapy even when the patient is well. The evidence suggests that such treatment is often not taken. Audit suggests that poor communication and lack of information remains a common problem. There is increasing use of a team approach to the management of asthma, often necessitated by the sheer numbers of patients requiring regular review. Such an approach combined with the giving of control of their own condition to the patients, has now been shown to improve outcomes.