Research Productivity and Funding

show that demonstration of proper technique is superior to just explaining or supplying reading material (package insert) and that only supplying reading material is little better than doing nothing. Who should provide the patient education? Everyone involved in the patient's care should be able to provide the demonstration: physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and respiratory therapists. Who provides the patient education for many patients? Almost no one. As Whelan and Hahn point out, many health professionals do not know how to properly use MDIs despite the fact that they have patients who are using them. Self et at. reported in 1983 that pharmacists can make a significant impact on this problem by educating patients in proper inhalation technique."Yet in 1990, this same group reported that only 13 percent of 52 randomly selected pharmacists in three cities offered to educate patients on their inhaler use. Even worse is the fmding that many pharmacists did not know the correct technique when asked by the patients and only one actually demonstrated the correct technique," Rarely do such potent, life-saving therapies lend themselves to such variable results that can so easily be remedied by such a minimal amount of patient education (5-15 minutes of patient instruction). To paraphrase Pogo, "We have met the problem and it is us." No pharmacy student should graduate without demonstrating the ability to instruct someone in the proper use of an MDI, dry-powder inhaler, or MDI plus a spacer. I hope the publication of the Expert Panel's guidelines for the management of asthma will increase the awareness in all health professionals of the need for ongoing patient education if we are to halt the rising mortality rate from asthma.