Vol. 18 •Issue 15 • Page 11
New Book Is Perfect Tool for Teaching Parents about Asthma * New Book Is Perfect Tool for Teaching Parents about Asthma
Reviewed By David Kissin, BS, RRT
CONTROL YOUR CHILD’S ASTHMA By Harold J. Farber, MD, and Michael Boyette.
Published 2001 by Henry Holt and Co., cost: $14 231 pages
Think quickly! What is this patient’s optimal peak flow? What precipitated this child’s asthma exacerbation? Do you treat the symptomology only or do you prescribe a regimen of prophylactic medications as well? Can environmental triggers be altered without putting the child with asthma in a sterile “bubble”?
These questions and many more are readily answered by Harold Farber, MD, and Michael Boyette in Control Your Child’s Asthma, a book released earlier this year.
RTs will find the book a useful teaching tool when they work to educate parents of asthmatic patients on ways to build an approach to care so their children can live a normal life without limitations due to asthma.
The books was written specifically for the parents of children with asthma. The message is delivered in plain language and the authors take great pains to emphasize pertinent points of care.
Farber has been involved in developing innovative approaches to managing childhood asthma since his early years as a resident. He has helped refine most of the classical interventions and has helped change the focus of the disease treatment from emphasis only when the patient is ill to an emphasis on prevention and stabilization.
Control Your Child’s Asthma is written in a systematic 3-part format to help parents deal with the complexities of childhood asthma.
Part I presents the fundamentals of the disease, separates fact from fiction and outlines the basic current concepts of treatment.
Part II focuses on prevention and early detection and treatment. The authors stress it is far better manage the disease in a proactive manner so patients and their families can enjoy a relatively normal lifestyle.
Part III contains a practical approach to the care and maintenance of the patient.
Control Your Child’s Asthma is available from Owl Books/Henry Holt & Co., 115 West 18th St., New York, NY, 10001, or call (800) 330-8477. ISBN for the 231-page softcover book is 0-8050-6455-9.
Dave Kissin is a staff therapist at Maine Medical Center, Portland.
