Sukhova, E. V. Psychological Assistance of People Sick with Bronchial Asthma at ‘Asthma School’

Abstract: In Russia over 7 million of people suffer from bronchial asthma. The medical and social role of this disease is highly significant. The wide spread of the disease among people of working age, high death risk and increasing disability of patients make bronchial asthma a social suffering. The main goal of treating of people sick with bronchial asthma is teaching patients to control and observe their disease. People sick with asthma attend classes at so called ‘Asthma School’. Asthma Schools have been taught in our country for over 20 years. However, the level of knowledge of patients about their disease is still low and they can’t observe and control their disease themselves. The purpose of the present research is to develop recommendations for pulmonary specialists and therapists on teaching patients with bronchial asthma to control their disease. The recommendations are based on the results of studying psychological qualities of patients and causes of their fears. The research involved 127 patients suffering from bronchial asthma including 62 males and 65 females. The respondents were tested by the standard clinical methods such as the SMIL test and the questionnaire developed by the author for studying causes of particular fears experienced by patients. According to the results, particular fears of patients suffering from bronchial asthma are mostly caused by their inability to control the disease, to deal with asthma attacks and a low level of knowledge about the disease in general. Based on the analysis of psychological qualities of patients with bronchial asthma, the author develops recommendations for a pulmonary specialist on how to teach at the Asthma School. According to the author, it is very useful to maintain good relations with a patient and to teach him particular algorithms of actions. A patient must also keep the self-observation notes (diary). Then a patient and a doctor analyze what causes asthma attacks.

Keywords: