A pilot evaluation of the Zoned Asthma Action Plan (ZAAP) Card.

Abstract

Asthma exacerbations account for significant morbidity and contribute a disproportionate amount to the cost of asthma management. In the UK, £58.3million/year is spent on emergency care for asthma, and there were 79,794 emergency hospital admissions in 2008-09 of which an estimated 75% were avoidable through education and awarencess of how to self-manage these events. Asthma self-management plans are fundamental to improvements in clinical outcomes for adult asthma, and are recommended as a means to promote self-management. However, a paradoxical situation exists in that, despite the Government's commitment to ensuring that everyone with a long-term condition has a personalised care plan by 2010, many asthma patients do not receive an asthma plan. In response to this, one of the authors (JF) developed a simplified and accessible self-management plan in the form of a credit card - the Zoned Asthma Action Plan (ZAAP) - which has been piloted and evaluated locally since 2002. The ZAAP card incorporates a traffic light zone response to self-care treatment options in line with current BTS/SIGN guidelines