Through our Respiratory Insights service, we helped the team connect with families, shape meaningful engagement, and gather real world perspectives on spirometry and asthma care.
About the project
Spirometry is recommended in guidelines for assessing and monitoring asthma in children and young people. Yet, there remains uncertainty among clinicians and families about how to interpret results and how spirometry should be used to inform asthma management decisions. The SPIROMAC (SPIROmetry to Manage Asthma in Children) study aims to investigate whether adding spirometry to usual care reduces asthma attacks in children.
How Respiratory Insights supported the project team
Over the course of four years, our Respiratory Insights service was able to provide the following support for SPIROMAC:
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Supporting a successful funding application
Providing a letter of support to demonstrate the importance of the study to people affected by asthma. -
Connecting the research team to a lay co-applicant
Connecting the project with a lay co-applicant, helping ensure the research reflected the needs and priorities of families. -
Engaging parents through our established lived experience networks
Advising on the design of a parent survey and disseminating it through our lived experience channels to reach families of children with asthma. -
Delivering meaningful engagement
Recruiting parents and delivering an online focus group, creating a safe space for open discussion
Reaching parents of children with asthma
To generate the insights needed, we engaged parents through our established lived experience networks. We worked with families of children and young people with asthma to ensure participation was accessible, supportive and meaningful.
The insights informed a report summarising the findings from a parent survey and focus group, exploring three key questions:
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What is the experience of children and young people when doing spirometry?
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What do parents understand about why spirometry is used?
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What benefits do parents see from spirometry, including how results are explained by clinicians?