Page 7 - SOUTH FLORIDA HOPSITAL NEWS APRIL 2022

Despite New Treatments,

Asthma Care Hasn’t Advanced When It Comes to

in Many Vulnerable Populations Patient Care, How

Do You Incentivize?
When a chronic disease the easiest to identify
or condition affects one in because it is easier to docu-
nine children in Florida, ment their symptoms, do Back in college, in addition to a full class
we need to take action. testing, and parents, teach- schedule and many activities on campus, I had
When it affects specific ers, and other adults three part time jobs. One job was work-study
communities more than involved in their lives can making copies for minimum wage at the local
others, those actions must report anything untoward. high school. The second was as a food server
address the issues in order at a popular local restaurant. Third was as a BY JAY JUFFRE
to improve the health of More Barriers to hockey referee. All three incentivized me dif-
our children. Diagnosis and ferently. For the first job, no matter how good a job I did printing out
So what disease are we Treatment daily assignments for teachers, it paid the same. Ten hours per week times
talking about? It’s asthma, There is another possible $x.xx per hour. The second job’s take home pay was largely based on tips.
a chronic illness of the BY KUNJANA barrier to diagnosis and Depending on how good a job I did taking care of customers determined
lower airways, which MAVUNDA, MD treatment, aside from age: how much I took home each week. As far as referee, the better you were,
causes the airways to access to healthcare. Even if the higher the level game you got to officiate, and it would pay more.
become inflamed and hyperactive, and families do have a primary care physician Therefore, I worked hard to become good enough to do the high school
produce extra mucus, resulting in cough- (PCP), they might not be able to get to and college games to earn more. So how do you incentivize your people?
ing and wheezing as the children try to the doctor’s office because of transporta- Do you have folks who spend a ton of time interacting with patients and
breathe. Asthma can range in severity tion or scheduling issues. their families, but are incentivized the same way a 19-year-old gets incen-
and there can be acute exacerbations – When this happens, parents may bring tivized to run a Xerox copier? Are there opportunities to earn a little extra
sudden acute “attacks.” their sick child to an urgent care center, for taking better care of people, like my time spent as a waiter? Is your
Parents need to be attuned to the early often as symptoms become significantly organization like the people who assigned us the hockey games, where
warning signs, which are exercise intol- worse than they would be had they gone the ones who are the best at what they do get the best assignments? You
erance, night-time cough, chronic day earlier to their PCP. Their child will be get the point. Sometimes when, ‘it all pays the same’, the same is exactly
cough, tightness in the chest, and lower treated, but usually only with medica- what you get from your team. Whether it be simple recognition, small
tolerance for physical activity. tions to treat the immediate issue, not bonuses, or a big part of their compensation, look for ways to tie compen-
Genetics, environment, and diet can all the underlying problem. sation to desired results. Coming out of COVID, the organizations who
play a role in developing asthma. This leads to the last barrier to effec- truly reconnect with their patients the quickest will win. Getting your
tive treatment: the medications physi- entire team aligned behind that cause will pay huge dividends.
Asthma Risk cians are allowed to prescribe. Most asth-
Children can be born with a genetic ma medications available on Medicaid Jay Juffre is Executive Vice President, ImageFIRST. For more information on
predisposition for asthma. This is partic- and some commercial insurance formu- ImageFIRST, call 1-800-932-7472 or visit www.imagefirst.com.
ularly apparent in African-American and laries only decrease the symptoms. These
Puerto Rican communities, which have a drugs don’t treat the airway hyper
higher prevalence in Florida. responses and inflammation that caused
Environmental and diet issues are also the symptoms. There are very effective
significant risk factors for people living medication inhalers that do address the
in low-income and inner-city areas. causes, but they aren’t covered. And so
Children in those communities may be starts the cycle of symptoms and treat-
exposed to mold and cockroaches, which ment – but not prevention. Building What’s Next for Nursing
are strong allergy triggers. Families may
not have air conditioning to help clear Multi-Pronged Approaches Engaging, Embracing and Empowering
airborne allergens. Diet-wise, children to Care
may not have easy access to healthier Unfortunately, little in Florida has for Greater Resilience & Results
food choices or be aware that their diet is changed over the past 20 years when it
exacerbating their breathing problems. comes to identifying and treating chil-
Processed foods and products with artifi- dren with asthma. May 20, 2022 at the Signature Grand in Davie, FL or via live webcast
cial colors and flavors (which also tend The American Lung Association has
to be cheaper) may worsen respiratory been working with schools, teaching
symptoms. kids about asthma, and getting parents Join the Nursing Consortium of Florida for a review of the
involved. School nurses do help. The strategies being adopted to build what’s next for nursing;
Diagnosing Asthma state is working with hospital emergency
Identifying asthma is not always rooms and urgent care clinics to identify more resilient and higher performing teams. Learn about new
straight forward. For example, adoles- patients who may be “frequent flyers.” onboarding experiences, reconfigured nurse teams, evolving
cents with asthma are often undercount- And since asthma often runs in families, leadership roles, and more. Don’t miss this exceptional learning
ed, as are children under five. identifying patients can also impact sib- and networking opportunity! For more information and to
Adolescents are working on their inde- lings or even adults who were never diag-
register please go to: https://www.nursingconsortium.us
pendence and may not always recognize nosed. But this is not enough.
or report symptoms to their parents or
physician. They also may not be as com- The Take-Away
pliant about taking medications. Teens Asthma is treatable through the use of
also usually have great lung capacity. preventative medications and by modify- Morning Keynote Speaker Afternoon Keynote Speaker
Even if they have mild-to-moderate asth- ing risk factors. More efforts are needed Ramón Lavandero, Rick Bluni, RN
ma, it might not be evident until they to support parents who have children RN, MA, MSN, FAAN Author of the Inspired
have an exacerbation. with asthma and provide preventive Senior Director of Nurse and Speaker
In preschoolers, diagnosing asthma medicines to help control it. Vaccines Communications and Huron
can be difficult because physicians must against influenza and pneumonia help Strategic Alliances
rely on symptoms, physical exams, and prevent exacerbations in adults and chil- American Association
family history; lung function is difficult dren. of Critical-Care Nurses
to assess in this age group. Usually, asth- Asthma isn’t curable; it doesn’t go
ma cannot be diagnosed before age two, away. But good management can reduce
although an earlier diagnosis is possible the frequency of asthma symptoms for
when an infant has signs of food and weeks, months, and even years.
environmental allergies and recurrent
wheezing. Dr. Kunjana Mavunda is a Pediatric
School-age children with asthma are Pulmonologist with KIDZ Medical.

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