Self-management Model for Asthma Patients of Secondary Community Hospitals in Saraburi Province

Abstract

            The objectives of this descriptive research were: 1) to analyze the self-management of asthma patients at secondary community hospitals in Saraburi province, 2) to develop a self-management model for asthma patients, and 3) to evaluate the appropriateness of the developed model. Samples were purposive sampling technique, consisted of 2 groups. The first were for analyzing the self-care management of asthma patients which comprised of 4 physicians, 4 professional nurses, 4 pharmacists, and 4 physical therapists, as well as 4 patients and 4 relatives. The second were for evaluating the appropriateness of the developed model, consisted of 2 health care providers, 2 patients and 3 experts. There were 2 sets of research instruments 1) A semi-structured interview for analyzing the self-management of asthma patients and health care providers which was divided into 2 parts. 2) The guideline for evaluating the appropriateness of the self-management developed model. Both instruments conducted content validity by 5 experts, and there were 0.78, 0.84, and 0.79, respectively. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and content analysis.
            Findings indicated that, 1) Asthma patients had insufficient knowledge and abilities to manage their health for themselves. They needed more support from the roles of health care providers and their families as well as communities. 2) The self-management model for asthma patients consisted of 3 main dimensions, the roles of health care providers, the roles of patients’ families and communities, and the roles of asthma patients; as well as 7 sub-dimensions to enhance patients’ self-management that consisted of (1) providing continuous health services, and linking from hospitals to patients’ homes, (2) working as multidisciplinary teams, (3) developing patients’ care guidelines and guidelines for health education, (4) developing nurses’ competencies for case management, (5) developing the patients’ recording system and taking the results back to the patients, (6) promoting patents’ exercise, stress management, and effective drug use, and (7) participation from patients’ families and communities including developing the patients’ environments. Finally, 3) experts evaluated the self-management model for asthma patients as appropriate (84.53%).