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| Home > Living With Asthma > Talking About Asthma > Talking to Your Healthcare Professional |
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If possible, see if you can arrange a visit with your healthcare professional to discuss your asthma. To help you get ready for your next visit, we've put together some easy-to-follow steps and tips for preparing questions. Also, we've included space for you to write down your questions and your healthcare professional's answers.
Step 1
Prior to visiting your healthcare professional, take the Asthma Control Test™. This test is for any one with asthma 12 years of age and older. You should share these results with your healthcare professional to determine if your current treatment is keeping your asthma symptoms under adequate control.
Step 2
Review your Asthma Journal (a daily log used to keep track of your good and bad days, your triggers, and your symptoms). You can learn a lot about your asthma by looking over your journal. You may want to bring your journal with you to the visit. If you record your peak flow readings in your journal, bring those as well. Also, review any other asthma materials you may have gathered on the Web or anywhere else since your last visit.
Step 3
Put aside a block of time for question writing.
Don't rush or wait until 5 minutes before your appointment to write down questions. You'll get better information if you take the time to write good questions. It might help to think about all your asthma symptoms and how your condition has changed since your last appointment.
Step 4
Write effective questions.
Remember—When, What, Why, and How. Ask questions that will open a discussion between you and your healthcare professional. Questions like, "Why should I take my medications regularly?" give you a chance to raise a number of topics like prevention, symptom awareness, and medication effectiveness. A question such as, "How does an inhaler work?" will also give you the chance to raise many issues at once. On the other hand, sometimes you just need a direct answer, for example: "How often should I take my asthma medications?"
If you're not sure what questions to ask yourself before your visit, print and fill out the Between Doctor Visits Questionnaire and show it to your healthcare professional during your visit. Always talk to your healthcare professional when you have a question or concern about your asthma.
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