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Asthma Australia is working to help people living in the Mid North of South Australia to reduce their risk of asthma attacks, identified as one of Australia’s asthma hotspots.
The community-driven project was rolled out in the communities of Jamestown, Peterborough and Orroroo to understand why asthma hospitalisations are sitting 45 per cent higher than the national average, and to seek grassroots solutions to help locals breathe better.
Thanks to seed funding from the Country SA PHN, the project titled the Community Responses to Asthma in the Mid North commenced in September 2019 and ran until June 2020.
To explore the issue, Asthma Australia joined forces with the Australian Centre for Social Innovation (TACSI), to employ and train three local people with asthma to investigate what the gaps were in treating and living with asthma in the Mid North.
They discovered that although asthma has a major impact on their lives of people in the community, many still feel a lot of stigma around their asthma and are hesitant to talk about it or seek preventative help.
Using the information gathered, two key concepts – Asthma Advocacy Guides and Community Connector – have been developed to help raise the community’s understanding of asthma and support local health care providers.
Once implemented, the Asthma Advocacy Guides will provide up-to-date and practical tips for asthma management while the Community Connector will facilitate relationships between health care providers and local people with asthma to improve asthma care and understanding.
Asthma Australia is encouraging the local community to share their thoughts on the Asthma Advocacy Guides and Community Connector by filling in the survey here or by contacting Asthma Australia Projects and Partnerships Manager Janine Phillips on jphillips@asthma.org.au.
Locals can also join a dedicated Facebook group about asthma management in the Mid North here. For further information on how Asthma Australia can help support your asthma management, please
visit www.asthma.org.au
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