At Huddy Health, understand that adjusting to life with a chronic health condition can be challenging. It is especially true if your condition is poorly controlled or unresponsive to your treatments.
Poorly or unresponsive asthma can disrupt different aspects of your life, like limiting your social interactions or physical abilities, causing you to miss school or work, and disturbing your sleep with symptoms. You can adjust. The key is self-management.
Self-Management = Better Health
- Self-management gives you an active role in your health.
- Management involves more than just treating symptoms.
- An asthma action plan (AAP) is an integral part of self-management.
Self-management empowers you to take an active approach to your health, which in the end, helps you make better decisions about your health. Consistent care also helps you make better health decisions. Read more about how that happens here.
When you think of self-management, you probably think it only means managing your symptoms. And while it is true that symptom management is part of your process, there is more to self-management than that. Asthma education is also a part of this process. Your healthcare provider should educate you about the causes of your asthma, triggers, and expectations about your treatment options.
Finally, an asthma action plan (AAP) is also part of your self-management process. An AAP is crucial for correctly self-managing your asthma. For those of you unfamiliar or in need of a refresher, welcome to asthma action plan 101.
What is an Asthma Action Plan?
An asthma action plan (AAP) is a written plan for your asthma. Some of you may think that you only need an AAP for emergencies. But that is not true. AAPs allow you to assess the severity of your asthma. And it offers guidance for selecting appropriate interventions to alleviate your symptoms.
The best practice is for everyone living with asthma to have an AAP. Since 1997, when the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program Coordinating Committee Expert Panel made their initial recommendation, healthcare providers included an AAP in the plan of care for asthma. The nature of AAPs has shifted some over the last 25 years. However, the NIH still regards them as an effective tool for self-managing asthma – especially for certain population groups. Namely, people with moderate to severe asthma, poor asthma control, and a history of severe exacerbations.
What Does Your AAP Do?
You know that your AAP helps you assess the severity of your condition and determine your best course of action. It also enables you to recognize when your asthma symptoms are deteriorating and empowers you to take action! But that is not all it does or can do. Aside from managing your condition, an AAP helps improve your quality of life and reduce emergency visits to your healthcare provider or the emergency department.
Your Asthma Action Plan Needs to Be
- Effective in meeting your established health goals.
- Personalized to meet your needs and address your preferences.
- Culturally Sensitive.
- Collaboratively developed with you, your healthcare provider, and care team members.
How Does an AAP Look?
Written AAPs are easy to develop. But it is important to remember that you do not have to create one on your own. Developing your AAP is a collaborative effort between yourself and members of your care team. Check out a downloadable standard AAP offered by The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology here. Also, Regional Asthma Management and Prevention of Oakland offers another effective AAP here.
The NIH Expert Panel recommends two separate AAPs. They recommend one based on your symptoms and the other on your peak flow levels (i.e., a measure of the openness of your airways). In some cases, a combination of both plans may be effective.
No two cases of asthma are identical. The same is true for your AAP! Indeed they all consist of the same components. But remember that your AAP needs to meet your needs. Your plan needs to include your comfort level with aspects of your care, like identifying your symptoms, self-assessing, and your preferences. These are the standard components of all AAPs.
Three Levels
All asthma action plans have three color-coded zones. And these zones correspond to an action. Think of these levels like a traffic light.
- Green zone. Green means good. You have no active asthma symptoms and can complete all of your activities with no problem. But, you still include your current medications, dosages, and frequencies.
- Yellow zone. Yellow means proceed with caution. You may have mild to moderate asthma symptoms, such as wheezing or coughing. You may also notice limitations with your social or personal activities. In this zone, you take the medication as you would in green, but you add on others.
- Red zone. Red means warning. You are experiencing severe asthma symptoms or an asthma attack. Seek immediate medical action! Continue using the medications from the green and yellow zones. We recommend that you contact your healthcare provider, and if you cannot reach them, go to your nearest emergency department.
Medications
Your healthcare provider will determine the course of treatment that best addresses your asthma symptoms and suits your unique needs. Despite there being variability in prescription medications, everyone with asthma uses something from these groups.
- Controller medications. Sometimes we call them maintenance drugs. We talk about them in great detail here. You take these medications regularly to manage your asthma symptoms. These are your green zone medications. You should use these medications even if you feel like your symptoms are under control.
- Add-on medications. You take add-on medication with your controller medicines. But you do not use them daily. Instead, you take them to get quick relief from your asthma symptoms. These are your yellow zone medications.
Peak Flow Rate
Peak flow levels refer to the amount of air you can force out of your lungs. Your healthcare provider assesses these levels using a handheld device called a spirometer. Your healthcare provider also determines your optimal peak flow rate or levels once you start treatment. However, ongoing assessment is crucial for optimizing your asthma control.
Most AAPs use your peak flow rate to determine your course of action. Your healthcare provider may discuss the following with you:
- Increase your inhaled steroid medication if your peak flow rate is less than 80%
- Discontinue oral steroids and seek medical attention from your healthcare provider if your peak flow rate is less than 60%
- Seek immediate medical attention if your peak flow rate is less than 40%
Your AAP should also include
- Emergency contact information
- A list of your asthma symptoms and triggers
- Your current medication/treatment options organized by zone
In summary, your AAP is a crucial piece to your effective self-management. Implementing an AAP helps to prevent the deterioration of your asthma symptoms. However, if it happens, your AAP allows you to recognize and adjust to sudden changes in your health and empowers you to make the best health-related symptoms. It’s important to remember that your AAP does not replace the need for scheduled maintenance visits with your providers and specialists. Nor does it encourage you to become non-compliant with your treatments and use when you are in certain zones.
With the care and support of your health team, you can adjust to living with a chronic condition. Find more content and resources about asthma on the Huddy Health conditions blog.