Asthma: Young adult self management

Summary

This project will employ illness narrative qualitative research methods, and video and audio recordings of young Australians who are living with asthma. The work follows on from our current research into our patient focussed disease state management services designed to enhance asthma management. 

Supervisor(s)

Dr Lorraine Smith, Professor Carol Armour

Research Location

Sydney Pharmacy School

Program Type

Masters/PHD

Synopsis

Asthma is one of the most common diseases affecting young Australians. Our research shows that asthma is commonly perceived by the sufferer to be an episodic and 'acute' condition, rather than a chronic illness, and this perception has a negative impact on the management of asthma. Late adolescence and early adulthood is often a time of suboptimal self-management; understanding the disease from the perspective of the young person with asthma is essential if we are to make any advances in supporting this group of people and helping them to improve their quality of life.

Additional Information

To date, there is no substantive body of research focusing on the illness narratives of young Australians who are living with asthma. At the completion of this research, the next step is to make the video recordings combined with synopses of the most those aspects most important to the participants with asthma available on the www (see www.healthtalkonline.org)

Keywords

Asthma, qualitative research methods, young adults, self management, life stories, respiratory disease

Opportunity ID

The opportunity ID for this research opportunity is: 924

Other opportunities with Dr Lorraine Smith

• Type 1 diabetes: Young adult self management