chi has theasthma or chronic respiratory conditions almost always must follow one inhalation therapyi.e. use one spray prescribed by your doctor one or more times a day. However, these drugs must be dispensed from an inhaler that changes according to the type of molecule used, and often require a spacer to be purchased separately at the pharmacy to ensure that the active ingredient reaches the bronchi and lungs precisely and does not stop in the oral cavity.
Here because treating asthma is not always easyespecially in the case of children or elderly or dependent patients. Inhaling the drug precisely is far from simple, and the effectiveness of the treatment and therefore well-being depends a lot on this gesture.
To help patients use the devices correctly, theBreathe Together Association-APS in collaboration with ArIR (Association of Rehabilitators of Respiratory Insufficiency) presents “Device4Patients”, a training project, usable online for free, presented at the V International Congress on Cardio-Respiratory Physiotherapy.
Asthma and correct inhalation therapy
The project “Device4Patients – Inhalation Devices: Use them properly, breathe better… Live well”, presented during the V International Congress on Cardio-Respiratory Physiotherapy organized by ArIR from 11 to 13 May in Rome.
Conceived by the Respiriamo Insieme-APS Association, in collaboration with ArIR, the Respiratory Insufficiency Rehabilitators Association and with the patronage of the main Scientific Societies involved in the respiratory field, “Device4Patients” is an open and free space for information, training and education in inhalation therapiescreated through theEducational Hub from the Association Breathe Together to improve the therapeutic adherence of patients with chronic respiratory disease.
How Device4Patients works and how to participate
The project includes a cycle of educational videos made up as follows: 1 for each device, 2 videos on the aerosol therapy technique and 12 virtual classrooms. These are training-educational sessions in virtual classrooms of about 40 minutes each in the presence of a pulmonologist, a respiratory physiotherapist and an expert patient of the association created with the aim of training and guiding patients in the correct use of devices for inhalation therapy and to the main tools for the treatment of chronic respiratory diseases.
To register, simply register at this link: https://www.respiriamoinsieme.org/hub-in-formativo-educazionale/
You can learn to breathe well
“We strongly believe in this project and in the collaboration with important experts and prestigious partners such as the Association of Rehabilitators of Respiratory Insufficiency (AIR) and the main Scientific Societies involved in the respiratory field who have granted us their patronage”, he explains Simona Barbaglia, President of the Association Breathe Together-APS.
«The new teaching methodologies and the use of enabling technologies that Breathe Together has been adopting since 2021 are facilitating more massive and widespread learning for patients, who can access information and training contributions at any time and from anywhere that can guide them towards better understanding and management of the disease.
This year the Association I represent wants to give even more concreteness to this digital space within which educational courses will also be offered to patients with the specific aim of promoting their therapeutic adherence”.
Improve your knowledge to get better
«A close collaborative relationship between the patient and the healthcare staff is essential for increase patient knowledge against the disease e of his “treatable traits”, making him active in all aspects of disease management, from lifestyle to proper use of medications. ArIR is proud to present this project in collaboration with the Breathe Together Association – she continues Andrea Lanza, ArIR President – because he strongly believes in the importance of patient-centred and of the figure of Respiratory Physiotherapist in training on the use of devices for inhalation therapy and patient education.
The Device4patients project was born to guide and accompany the patient to acquire the necessary familiarity with the different solutions and devices that could be offered to him by the doctor, specialist or pharmacist”.
Asthma and respiratory therapy the difficulties of healing
Unlike all other pharmacological therapeutic principals, the effectiveness of inhalation therapy may be null if the inhalation maneuver is not correct. And what are the reasons why it is so difficult? The path towards therapeutic adherence that a patient with chronic respiratory diseases must face is complex, starting from range of devices for inhalation therapy which, if not used correctly, risk rendering the therapy ineffective.
If the patient is not trained on the new device, the resulting effect is negative repercussions in terms of the effectiveness of the therapies themselves and in economic terms due to non-use or incorrect use of the prescribed drugs.
Adherence to inhalation therapy
«Adherence to inhalation therapy is a unmet need (unmet needs) in asthma care. It is first of all for the patient who, when non-adherent, does not control the disease. It is for the doctor called to treat more frequent and more serious exacerbations and it is for the social and health system which sees the direct and indirect costs of this disease increase due to poor adherence. The initiative of the Respiriamo Insieme association fits into the perspective of responding to this unmet need, combining, as always, scientific rigour, pragmatism and effectiveness for the benefit of patients suffering from asthma undergoing inhalation therapy”, he explains Gianna Camiciottoli, Coordinator of the Scientific Committee of the Association Breathe Together-APSAssociate Professor at the University of Florence, Head of the Severe Asthma Unit at the Careggi University Hospital of Florence.
The Association Let’s breathe together – APS
LET’S BREATHE TOGETHER-APSNational Association of patients was born in 2014 and aims to act to protect patients, adults and minors suffering from respiratory, allergic, immunological and rare lung diseases to guarantee them the right treatment path by reducing the burden of the disease for patients and family members through advocacy, advocacy, education and research.
ArIR, the Association of Rehabilitators of Respiratory Insufficiency
ArIR – Association of Rehabilitators of Respiratory Insufficiency – is a non-profit association born in 1989 from the initiative of a group of physiotherapists already engaged in various capacities in terms of training and dissemination. It is the reference association of Italian Physiotherapists who deal with Physiotherapy and Respiratory Rehabilitation: non-profit, it is based on the voluntary activity performed by its members. Since its establishment, ArIR has pursued as its primary objective the professional training of respiratory physiotherapists through courses, conferences, publishing and research activities, managing to organize over 500 courses in recent years –
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