“An increase in [asthma] medication is generally an indication that people are managing their asthma,” says Michael Allen, manager, safety services, Moosehead. “And that’s lucky news for us.”
Yet luck had little to do with it. In 2004, Medavie Blue Cross approached Moosehead about an asthma selfmanagement study that Blue Cross and GlaxoSmithKline were launching at companies across New Brunswick. Inspire at Work — led by Chris Goguen, senior manager, external affairs, GlaxoSmithKline and Theresa Rose, director, group product management, Medavie Blue Cross — was prompted by increasing usage rates of asthma rescue medication in the province, as well as statistics showing New Brunswick had the second highest rate of asthma-related hospitalizations in the country.
The objective of the study was to improve participants’ asthma control by giving them two comprehensive one-on-one sessions with an asthma educator and a personal diseasemanagement plan. Throughout the nine-month study, the asthma educator monitored and assessed the participants’ progress.
“What normally happens with asthma patients is that once a year, they go to their physicians, who spend approximately five to six minutes with them,” says Chantal LeCouteur- Morais, registered nurse and certified asthma educator, Medavie Blue Cross. “That’s just not enough time for patients to get the specific information they need to self-manage and control their disease.”
As the father of a 10-year-old boy with asthma, Allen didn’t need much convincing to champion the study.
“The biggest challenge in this study was recruiting people,” says LeCouteur-Morais. “Most people were just not sure what to expect and what the benefits will be for them — so having someone like Mike Allen promoting the program at the employee level made a tremendous difference.”
In all, 11 participants signed up for the study. Six were Moosehead employees, one was the spouse of an employee, and four were children of employees, including Allen’s son.
At the end of the study, Moosehead saw a decrease in workplace absenteeism among the participants who had reported missing half a day of work because of asthma in the threemonth period before the study began. Nine months later, they reported no days lost due to asthma in the last three months of the study.
About 17% of adult participants also said at the start of the study that they had experienced asthma symptoms at work. At the end of the study, only 7% suffered asthma symptoms on the job.
Ultimately, say the researchers behind Inspire at Work, the study has yielded a return of $4.24 for every dollar invested in the program.
For Allen and his fellow employees, however, the benefits of Inspire at Work go way beyond dollars and cents.
“Being able to manage your asthma translates into a better quality of life,” says Allen. “It’s truly amazing what you can accomplish with a bit of asthma education.”
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