Controlling asthma and coping with exacerbations
“I can't do anything on my own will.”
What do you do to control [your asthma]? “I go to my daughter's.”
What does your GP say about your illness? “He says, ‘I will treat, have faith in God.’ ”
49 year old Punjabi Hindu woman
When you get an asthma attack what do you do? “I don't do anything, I come here . . . You telephone, and the ambulance comes.”
60 year old Punjabi Hindu woman
“I had a bad attack, probably three years ago, and then I stopped smoking and I've completely changed my life around. But since then I've managed my asthma better than I ever have done, you know.”
32 year old white man
Concept of asthma prevention medication
What do you do to control it? “Ventolin.”
Do you use any other one? “I have the brown but I only use the blue one.”
How long have you had the brown one? “I don't have the date—two or three years.”
Do you know what the two medicines do? “That one [brown] you don't have an attack the doctor told me.”
40 year old Pakistani Muslim woman
“Half of these medicines they give you here for asthma, you've got to take them on a regular basis . . . Becotide, now that's a preventative . . . you're supposed to use that all the time, you can't just use that and think, ‘I’ve got an attack coming on, I'd better use it.' It's too late . . . take like an 'eadache, where you think, ‘I’ll take a tablet for me 'eadache and it'll get rid of it.' With asthma, I think asthma's an illness on its own, you've got to keep your airwaves [airways] open all the time”
58 year old white man
Concept of systemic corticosteroids in asthma exacerbations
“I took a big dose of steroids because that is how I have been told to handle it.”
45 year old white woman (a)
“Cortisone or something, that is one wonderful thing. That is something out of this world because within 20 minutes you think, ‘cor that’s good stuff, I can breathe again.' ”
58 year old white man
Confidence in general practitioners
“He's brilliant. He's got an asthma nurse, he's got a diabetic clinic . . . he knows all my history . . . He seems to have more time because he knows you better.”
60 year old white woman (a)
“When the medicine I need I go there, and if I have a big problem I go there, but my GP doesn't help much, he doesn't help me in many things now.”
60 year old Keralan Hindu man