condition that prevent members of this community from accessing the care they need . Some believe that asthma is hereditary and transmittable , which means they are reluctant to leave their houses , even for family weddings . Another key aim of this project was to improve patient engagement and education on asthma management and treatment options , providing support with adherence to their inhalers and to minimise harm associated with excess corticosteroid use .
Poorly controlled asthma is known to increase the chances of death , and over usage of reliever inhalers ( commonly known as blue inhalers ) have unnecessary side effects as well as being harmful to the environment . However , asthma information in alternative languages is not provided by pharmaceutical companies , meaning patients in our region were struggling to understand and manage their respiratory condition , or what treatments were available to them .
28 Transforming Lives Through Innovation
Working with South Asian patient groups to produce a variety of resources that would help increase their understanding of what asthma is and how to self-manage the condition has been integral to the success of this project . Some of these resources included the development of graphic medicine sheets , leaflets and QR codes , animations and videos in 10 different languages to help selfmanage asthma or on how to take medication during Ramadan .
The project also involved identifying and training some existing COVID-19 champions from the South Asian community to become wider respiratory champions , who understand the language and culture . Not only is this an excellent and innovative approach , but it avoids excluding those who are not engaging with digital information . This project demonstrates how it is possible to tackle health inequalities by harnessing the knowledge of local communities to co-produce targeted resources and interventions .
“
I missed out on lots of activities when I was younger as my parents were too scared to let me get active because of my asthma condition .”
Focus group participant
“
Another example of excellent work from West Yorkshire . Our respiratory consultant and our colleague from Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber have created some excellent videos and training material for patients with asthma and community champions . This work complements the Children and Young
People Core20PLUS5 framework .”
Dr Sohail Abbas , Chair of Health Inequalities Network ,
West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership