Children’s Asthma Friendly Schools
How do you know if your child’s school will offer the proper support to keep her healthy and active with her asthma under control? As a start, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) developed a checklist:
- Is your school free of tobacco smoke at all times even during school-sponsored events?
- Does the school maintain good indoor-air quality, and does it reduce allergens or irritants that can make it worse? Have any of the following been found: cockroaches, dust mites, mold, pets with fur or feathers, or strong odor from items such as art supplies, paints, pesticides, perfumes, air fresheners, or cleaning chemicals?
- Is the school nurse available in the school every day? If not, is the nurse regularly available to help the school prepare guidance related to medicines, physical education, and field trips?
- Can your child take medicines at school as recommended by her health care provider? Can your child carry her own asthma medication with her in school?
- Does someone teach the staff about asthma, asthma action plans, and asthma medications?
- Does someone teach students about asthma and what they should do to help a classmate with asthma?
- Does your school have an individualized written emergency plan, and do the plans indicate what actions to take, whom to call, or when to call?
- Does your child have good options for safely participating in physical education classes or recess? Does she have access to her medicine before exercise? Can she choose alternatives when medically necessary?
If you can answer no to at least one of these questions, your child may be encountering a barrier to asthma control. But these barriers are not insurmountable, and they can be tackled with the cooperation of the school staff, health professionals, and you.
Partnership for Better Care
Working to get better care for your child should not be a solitary effort. A strong partnership that includes you, the school staff, other families, physicians and other health care providers, and even students is needed to help young people with asthma.
Consider working with other parents to develop a resource library for all school staff and students for obtaining additional information about asthma through pamphlets, brochures, and other publications. Many local and national organizations offer educational materials for this purpose.
A good partnership can improve communication among all parities. In turn, it will help to promote improved attendance, alertness, physical stamina, and educational outcomes for your child and other children with asthma.
School policies that are supportive of partnerships have a number of points in common. First, they encourage families to participate in managing their children’s asthma at school. They also provide opportunities for families to participate in decision-making regarding school policies and procedures impacting their children.
Working with Teachers and School Staff
Most schools are likely to have several students with asthma, which means that many teachers plus school nurses will be very familiar with helping children with asthma. However, you still have a role to play in making sure that your child gets appropriate attention for his condition and that all the relevant school staffers are familiar with what is needed to help your child during the school day.
Teachers and Asthma
In a classroom of about twenty-five students, teachers can expect to have at least two to three children with asthma. While you should check to see if your child’s teacher has his action and daily action plans on hand, you also should ask if that teacher has had additional training from the school to spot asthma symptoms and to immediately address any emergencies that could arise.
In-service or professional development courses can be taught by a school nurse, a local hospital, or community organizations that focus on children with asthma. These courses can discuss when to refer a child to a nurse because of symptoms (such as wheezing, a pale and sweaty face, repeated coughing, or low peak flow readings), or side effects that are interfering with breathing or performing school activities.
Training also can assist teachers in learning about how to stop an asthma attack by encouraging relaxation or deep breathing (possibly by modeling the technique), providing warm water to drink, and, if needed, using quick-relief or rescue medication. The message should be emphasized to your child that he must speak up and not be embarrassed to tell his teacher if he is experiencing any difficulties, such as labored breathing or wheezing, so the teacher can act promptly.
Additional training also can help teachers address the child’s feelings, for instance, of being somewhat different than her classmates, anxiety over the use of medications, or embarrassment of having an asthma attack.
You should receive acknowledgement from your child’s classroom teacher or teachers that they have received his asthma action plan. If possible (particularly for the elementary grades), review it with the teacher to see if any modifications are needed in the classroom such as removals or repairs to avoid various asthma triggers.
Alert!!
Ask the teacher to contact you if your child’s asthma symptoms are affecting his learning or interactions with peers. Concerns about possible side effects with medications such as nervousness, nausea, hyperactivity, or jitteriness should be reported to you.
For more information on how to treat bronchial asthma and protect your loved ones to suffer bronchial asthma again. Please go to The Asthma Relief Report.
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