Parents urged to have asthma plan for children

Parents of children with asthma have been found wanting when it comes to managing the condition, evidenced by the almost one in eight who had to bring their child to the emergency department last year.

Research released to coincide with World Asthma Day found more than two in five parents of asthmatics did not know what an asthma management plan was — despite it being essential to controlling the condition.

The vital written plan, developed with a GP, outlines daily treatment, which inhaler to use, when to use it, and how to handle worsening asthma or attacks. Yet just 17% of parents had a plan in place.