Project: PACE

Adults and children living with asthma in the UK have worse control and suffer more asthma attacks than people in other high-income European countries. UK guidelines recommend management that could improve outcomes but, for a range of reasons, best (or even adequate care) is too often not accessible or does not engage patients.

Our long-term aim is to improve services so that people with poorly controlled asthma can access and engage with care that meets their individual needs and preferences. However, before we develop new ideas, we need to understand the range of barriers that prevent people with asthma accessing and engaging with care in the UK.

In this study we will:

• Summarise findings from other research to find out what other countries or places across the UK have done to improve how people with asthma engage with care.
• Use routine health service data to identify areas in the UK where asthma outcomes are particularly poor and explore how people in those areas use (or not) asthma services.
• Scope the range of ‘real world’ problems faced by different communities and care providers by interviewing people with asthma and doctors and nurses in general practices and hospitals about asthma care in their area.

When we have understood why people with asthma find it difficult to access or engage with appropriate care, we will develop a proposal for future research to improve access to and engagement with asthma services. In a full programme grant, we can design, test, refine and evaluate novel cost-effective service models to provide good asthma care for all.