Specialist nurses will hold a ‘meet and greet’ in Southend next week as part of a national campaign to raise awareness of children’s asthma.
Nurses from the Paediatric Asthma and Allergy Service at Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) will be in The Victoria Shopping Centre from 12.30pm on 13 and 14 September to meet residents, answer questions and offer advice.
The #AskAboutAsthma campaign, led by NHS England, runs between 12 and 18 September and aims to help children, young people and their families and carers understand how to best manage the condition through a series of daily activities including podcasts, blogs and webinars.
Throughout the campaign and beyond EPUT’s nurses will also be visiting schools across Castle Point, Rochford and Southend. The team plans to visit 115 schools as part of their mission to increase awareness of childhood asthma.
Melanie Moylan, Performance and Information Officer for the Paediatric Asthma and Allergy Service, said: “The Ask About Asthma campaign is about making simple changes to children and young people’s care that will make a big difference to how they experience asthma.”
“Some of our specialist nurses will be in Southend on 13 and 14 September to talk to children, young people, their families and those involved in their care to answer questions and offer advice that will help them understand and control their asthma. Keep a look out for us outside the Climate Change Hub.
“We are looking forward to visiting more schools across the area to help raise awareness of asthma in children and young people during the campaign and over the next couple of months.”
The #AskAboutAsthma campaign is now in its sixth year and aims to raise awareness of the #4AsksOfAsthma:
- Ensure an asthma action plan is in place
- Understand how to use inhalers correctly
- Schedule an asthma review every year and after every asthma attack
- Ask about the impact of indoor and outdoor pollution
A full list of activities taking place throughout the campaign is available on the Healthy London Partnership website.
Children, young people and their families are also invited to join an ‘Ask The Expert Webinar’ on Monday, 12 September between 12.30pm and 1.30pm. Experts will be on hand to respond to the most common questions from people with asthma. Further information and details about how to register for the event are available on the NHS England website.