Asthma 3+ Visit Plan: a qualitative evaluation

INTRODUCTION: The Asthma 3+ Visit Plan is a Commonwealth primary care initiative to improve care for patients with moderate or severe asthma through visits to general practitioners (GP). AIMS: To assess the use of, and barriers to, completing the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan in recurrent emergency department attendees; asthma knowledge, symptoms and quality of life were assessed before and after undertaking the plan. METHODS: The design was a predominantly qualitative study. Consenting individuals who presented for emergency treatment for asthma were interviewed before and after completing the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan with their GP. Asthma knowledge, symptom control, quality of life and demographic information were collected and participants underwent in-depth interviews for qualitative analysis. The setting was a tertiary teaching hospital and two suburban hospitals. The participants were 20 recurrent emergency attendees with asthma. RESULTS: Individuals who completed the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan had significant improvements in asthma-related quality of life and asthma knowledge. Qualitative interviews revealed that recurrent emergency attendees for asthma viewed the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan favourably. A good relationship with the GP appeared integral to the success of the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan and patient recall was an important factor in plan completion. Cost was also a barrier to patients completing the plan. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the Asthma 3+ Visit Plan as a discharge strategy for recurrent emergency attendees with asthma.