What do you want from Asthma UK? Now is the time to tell us, as the charity develops a new strategic plan for the next three years.
In this strand, I’m keen to hear what you think about our services. We run a number of services, which include the Adviceline, Kick Asthma holidays and of course information materials.
I know that many of you use the Adviceline and we are keen to find out how you think we could make it even better. At present, for example, we simply cover asthma. Would it be helpful if we covered a broader range of subjects, perhaps a related health area like allergy, or perhaps ways in which asthma affects your life, like employment,benefits and education? Is there any other way that we can make the Adviceline more convenient to use? Should we expand the email service, for example, so that you can send through questions that way?
And what about the written materials we send you? These are freely available on the phone or the web and cover a range of subjects, from preparing for an asthma review with your doctor to recovering from an asthma attack. Did you find these materials easy to use and helpful? Would you have liked the information communicated in other ways – in a DVD, for example? Was there information you needed but we couldn’t supply? Please let us know.
Every year, young people go on Kick Asthma holidays across the country. We hope that the young people have a really great time but also grow in confidence about managing their asthma whilst being active. How could we take these holidays onto the next level? Would you be interested in active weekends, for example? Should there be more follow-up to participation in a holiday? Should we be linking these events with the work we do in schools? If you volunteer to help on one of these holidays, how do you think we could make them even better?
And of course, you may have ideas for new services that we don’t currently provide. What kind of services are needed? Suggestions will be eagerly received. One idea we have, for example, is an asthma bus. Many of you will have seen buses for other health conditions like diabetes and cancer, touring the country. They are a good way of getting information out to people as they go about their daily lives – and don’t rely on people walking into a GP clinic. What do you think about the idea of an asthma bus? And what services should it include? Should there be nurses on the bus offering peak-flow tests? Or even allergy testing?
Of course, Asthma UK has limited resources and is dependent on donations to fund the work we do. We won’t be able to act on all your ideas. But we promise to listen to all of them and respond individually to your suggestions. And the best ideas will get taken forward in our new strategy.
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