Puff City- The New Asthma Program

By Devaki

Thursday, March 11, 2010, 14:45

'Puff City' is the new asthma program, which could help the teens to prevent the potentially fatal complications of the disease.

The teens from the rural areas face a lot of problems that make their disease worse, says the experts. The reason can be the factors like poor housing quality, air pollution, the trouble in getting doctors to smaller or less-equipped hospitals, etc. The exposure to tobacco, either smoking or second hand smoke, is another factor which exacerbate the asthma problems. The carrying of rescue inhalers and irregularity in taking the medications can also make the matters worse.

Puff city is a web based program introduced by the Medical College of Georgia. It uses a 'hip' character known as DJ Puffman, to reach the teens through different sessions. The program mainly aims at three key areas - reduction of tobacco exposure, adherence to medication and the attack readiness, which will help the at-risk teens better manage the disease.

Each time students log on, the character gives advice that is individually tailored to each student's asthma condition. These advices will be based on the previously provided information about how the student already deals with the disease.
The users will receive four computerized asthma management sessions that are accessed on computers at school. They can also solve the problems on asthma-management issues and hear educational information on the disease.

"The program really comes alive for them. It may ask a question, for instance, about how they can best remember to take their medication, maybe by placing it next to their cell phone at night. The next time they log in to the program, DJ Puffman will ask how that strategy is working for them," says Dr. Martha Tingen, a nurse researcher at the Georgia Prevention Institute.

The program found much helpful for the teens in the inner-cities where it was originally tested. "We are hoping that this is a program that can be easily disseminated world-wide at a relatively low cost," says Tingen.