Does your child struggle with asthma?
- Are you tired of bouncing back to the doctors and the hospital and never quite getting on top of it?
- Are you confused about the medicines and need it explained in simple language?
- Perhaps your child only gets periodic symptoms and you're not sure how to manage it?
- Would you know what to do - and would your family know what to do - if your child suddenly had an asthma attack?
Asthma Waikato offers asthma education for children aged 0-15 years living in the Waikato region. For a personal consult, we require a referral. We accept self-referrals.
We can help! Fill in our referral form for a free asthma consult with our Educator.
Are you an adult struggling with asthma?
Unfortunately, due to funding restrictions we are currently unable to offer asthma education for adults. If you are an adult requiring help with your asthma please talk to your doctor or practice nurse in the first instance and they should be able to provide the help you need, or they may be able to refer you to the respiratory clinics at Waikato Hospital.
Our Vision: Transforming lives of people with breathing conditions.
Our Mission: To educate the community and empower families with breathing conditions to live full lives. We want to see a better educated Waikato where nobody worries about their breathing, kids are kept out of hospital, in school and able to keep up with their peers.
We would love to see a Waikato where no one has to worry about their breathing! We are working hard to educate people on respiratory illness to this end. 1 in 7 kids have asthma in NZ and 586,000 school days are lost to asthma every year. We want to make a difference to these statistics, keep kids in school, out of hospital and keeping up with their peers.
What We Do
We listen, we educate and we act – we make a difference!
We educate - education helps you better understand what happens in your body when you get certain respiratory conditions, how your medication helps and highlights potential triggers
We use our expertise – we make sure children are on the right medicine, the right dose, the right device and they know how to take in the right way at the right time. We follow up regularly and keep working with you until your child is on the least amount of medicine to achieve the best result.
We make it simple – we provide advice and tips to simplify how you manage your respiratory condition on a day to day basis – staying as well as you can possibly be
We help you stop smoking - smoking cessation referrals and support are a focus for our educators.
We are your voice – we link you with the right organisations to get your environment right e.g. liaising with landlords, Housing NZ etc. when damp, mouldy houses are causing respiratory symptoms
We give you our time - many situations are complex e.g. multiple caregivers, complicated social issues, we spend as long as necessary with every client to get the best outcome.
Learn about the respiratory condition
Read more about the condition many Kiwis suffer with.
Our Education Services
Education the Way That Suits You
Although we prefer clinic appointments where we can interact with you personally, we can also provide virtual consults using things like Zoom and Facetime for example. This often suit people who live a long way from Hamilton or are unable to come in if they are sick. In very rare and special circumstances we may be able to offer a home visit.
Asthma Waikato Clinic Education Services
If you are able to travel and live in or near Hamilton we would encourage you to attend your appointment in our clinic. The Asthma Educator will make a time for you to attend and provide your asthma education there.
Community Education Services
We will also come to your school, marae, childcare centre and other community locations to provide education. We don't want anybody to have to miss out on education so will do our best to meet your needs.
Group Education for the Community
By request, our Asthma Educator will also provide education sessions for teachers and caregivers at schools and child care centres. We are also happy to come along to other community gatherings and provide education to community groups as required, such as maraes on request. Please note, our ability to do this does depend on our workload so during the busy months of winter for example, there may be a wait until the spring, when it is quieter.
Asthma Friendly Schools and Early Learning Centres Programme
Our Asthma Friendly Schools Asthma Educator programme is free and aimed at ensuring teachers and staff in schools are informed, prepared and know what to do in an asthma emergency to ensure their students safety.
Our Educator will cover such things as:
- What is asthma?
- How is it treated?
- What are the triggers?
- What to do in an emergency.
- Q & A
We recommend schools and early learning centres who want to be ‘asthma friendly’ meet these things:
- Completion of asthma edcuation session by Asthma Waikato
- All children with asthma in the centre identified by the school and kept on a register
- All children identified with asthma in the school have provided their own named spacer, reliever inhaler and action plan
- Asthma emergency kit is up to date
- 24 hour smoke and vape-free school/ELC environment
- School/ELC recognises and seeks to reduce potential triggers
- School/ELC has an up to date asthma policy in place
If you would like Asthma Waikato to come to your school, get in touch.
What to expect from an education session
What to expect from a clinic consult with us.
We provide free one-to-one education or education for the whole family/whanau. An Educator will ask some questions about your asthma and your medications and your current management of the condition, then spend time with you explaining through the use of models of airways, posters, booklets and other means what happens during asthma, how it can better managed and give you valuable advice on changes you can make to help things.
During a consult or an education session:
We explain:
- What asthma actually is
- What medicines there are and what they do
- What a spacer is
- What different devices there are
- What other things might be impacting asthma
- And more ...
We explain the WHY of all these things because if people know the WHY they're more likely to comply.
We ensure kids are on:
- The right medicine
- The right dose
- The right device
Our education ensures that they and their whānau know how to:
- Take it in the right way
- At the right time
We give people:
- Our time
- Access to our expertise
- Robust follow-up – most kids get at least 3-4 follow ups a year
- An open-door policy for reaching out
- Holistic care
- A warm, welcoming environment for the whole whānau
Whatever your support we are always thankful and it's always welcome.
Not that tech savvy? Would still like to make a donation or gift? Alternatively, you have ideas of how we might be able to help you help us continue working with people and families in the Waikato with asthma or COPD? Whatever it is, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
