Children’s Asthma Information Hub Launched to Support Children and Families Across Ireland

On Wednesday 12th of August, it was an exciting day for the CHI Respiratory Department in Tallaght as they launched the Children’s Asthma Information Hub on the CHI website. This is the first dedicated child -focused and family -centred asthma information hub available in Ireland.

There are short informational videos produced by the Respiratory Department on managing your child’s asthma and using inhaler devices as well as patient information leaflets, frequently asked questions, interactive resources for children and young people and links to other useful online resources. This information hub will be regularly updated for children, young people and their families.

How it began:

Catherine Carrig and Mary Devitt, Respiratory CNS’s, began this journey in 2021 with a SPARK award which led to the development of the Children's Asthma Pack (CAP). This was a hard-copy booklet with practical information to help children with asthma and their families manage their asthma at home. It soon became a valuable resource for families who reported it increased their confidence in managing their child’s asthma. Unfortunately, there was a limited supply of the hardcopy. In 2023, funding was awarded through CHI Research and Innovation and Children’s Health Foundation to transform the pack into a digital resource that can be continuously updated and maintained for years to come. This would provide wider access to the Children’s Asthma Pack for those in Children’s Health Ireland and beyond!

The CHI Innovation team provided support and training on developing the webpage, which included participation in a Design Thinking Day. Following this, ethical approval was granted to allow engagement with children and families attending asthma clinics to understand what information they needed and how they wanted to access it. A brainstorming workshop was also held with respiratory nurse colleagues from across the CHI sites. With the support of Paul Hendricks, Innovation Designer, a prototype website was developed and workshops were held with children and families to help redesign the site, ensuring it was as useful, accessible and as engaging as possible. Our play department also assisted with helping with the children’s workshops and resources on the website to be creative and interactive where possible.

The Asthma information hub has been a team effort and only made possible by the support and encouragement of colleagues, children, young people and their families.

You can access the information here: Asthma | Children's Health Ireland