The importance of health clubs in asthma management.

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the importance of Health clubs in Asthma management in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Ebonyi state.

Design: a cross-sectional qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGD) and Key informant interviews (KII).

Setting: the study was conducted from June to July 2019 at the Pulmonology Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, a tertiary health facility in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Participants: 15 out of 25 caregivers of our pediatric asthma clients who attend the Asthma club and nine key informants drawn from club members and some care givers.

Data collection/intervention: With informed consent, data were collected from participants using recorded interviews.

Statistical analysis/main outcome measure: This was done using the descriptive phenomenological psychological by sorting out each description's explanation and separating them into inferred meaning units for analyses and discussion for easier analysis.

Results: Out of 25 caregivers invited, 15 participated in the FGD, all were females aged 32-57 years. For the KII, two out of nine participants were males, three were parents (adults), whereas six were children, 9 to 16 years. Generally, most respondents expressed that the Asthma club improved their sense of well-being y providing a better understanding of the illness, and skills for its management.

Conclusion: The asthma club provides informational and affirmational supportive value to clients. We encourage as many centres as possible to raise an asthma club for more effective health communication and asthma care.

Funding: none declared.