1.1 million children in the UK have Asthma. During 2015-2016, 21 children died from an asthma attack. It was reported that 19 of these deaths could have been prevented.
For most children, their asthma can be well controlled through partnership with their GP and local asthma nurse. But for some children with moderate-to-severe asthma, careful management is required to get their asthma under control and to keep it well managed to prevent future asthma attacks. This can require treatment in and support from specialist paediatric centres in major hospitals. These are being overwhelmed by the growing demand. Childhood asthma will be one of the NHS’ top priorities in its 10-Year Plan.
Asthma+me App self-care solution is connected to the Activ8rlives PUFFClicker and other Bluetooth monitoring devices for children and young people with moderate-to-severe asthma.
Asthma+meTM is a new solution developed by UK company Aseptika in partnership with one of the UK’s leading paediatric care centres, which is only one of four in England dedicated to treating children.
Asthma+me has been designed to support the whole family in learning about the severity of their child’s asthma, how to manage it and provides the tools for both parents and the Paediatricians to monitor the level of control being achieved between appointments and at home.
There are medically approved quizzes to deliver age-appropriate education; questionnaires to check on day-to-day control; Bluetooth monitors that connect to Smartphones to record lung-function; medication diaries to track and remind the family of when medications are to be taken and when to order repeat prescriptions. Pollution, weather and pollen alerts are brought into the Parent Dashboard and the child can earn points towards prizes or treats agreed with family and friends as motivation to adhere to their daily Care Plan.
Regularly taking their inhaler medication as prescribed, is particularly critical to avoid further asthma attacks and so Asthma+me also includes a Bluetooth-connecting inhaler tracker called PUFFClickerTM, which counts and records how many doses are taken to help the family keep track. It supports correct inhaler technique using its in-built accelerometer to confirm that the inhaler has been shaken and a timer to show when to take the next dose. The Activ8rlives PUFFClicker uses a simple accessory to ensure that it fits the pressurised metered dose inhalers (the ones with the cylinder) most frequently prescribed to children such as the preventer inhalers (Seretide Evohaler®, Flixotide Evohaler® and Clenil® Modulite®) and the reliever inhalers containing Salbutamol (Ivax Salamol® and Ventolin® Evohaler®).
Parents can use the Asthma+me App to generate an interactive Asthma Care Plan that can be printed and given to GPs, Clinics, Schools, Friends and Family for sleep-overs, visits and school trips. The Reports show physiological data, medication adherence, weight/growth charts and medication diaries and can sent to the GP or specialist clinic for inclusion in the child’s medical records.
The Asthma+me App and the PUFFClicker are both approved as medical devices (Class 1) by the UK’s regulatory authorities and are undergoing feasibility trials for use by the NHS. The development of this solution for children with moderate-to-severe asthma was funded by the innovative procurement process to solve key NHS healthcare challenges by the SBRI Healthcare NHS initiative.
Instructions for good inhaler technique and adherence to prescribed medication with the Activ8rlives PUFFClicker Smart pMD Inhaler tracker linked to the Asthma+me App.
Professor Heather Elphick is a Consultant in Paediatric Respiratory Medicine at Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and is the Lead for Children and Young People’s National Institute of Healthcare Research Medtech and In vitro diagnostic Co-operative:
“Sheffield Children’s Hospital is treating an increasing number of children with moderate-to-severe asthma who need to take time-off from school with their parents, to travel for up to 2 hours to attend our outpatient clinics here. It is essential that the waiting times for their first outpatient appointment is as short as possible which means that we must free the time of front-line staff where ever we can. We are always looking for innovative ways to deploy new technologies to improve the quality of our care, work with more patients and achieve this as efficiently as possible. SBRI Healthcare has provided the opportunity to work directly with Aseptika to co-develop a solution as a possible alternative to outpatient appointments, building skills and good management techniques which will stay with them when they reach 18 years of age and transfer to adult services.”
For more information visit www.activ8rlives.com
