A todo pulmon: co-designing a health initiative for pediatric asthma amid COVID-19

Background: Pediatric asthma self-management (ASM) concerned patients and caregivers both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Studies have shown that barriers and facilitators directly influence self-management and treatment adherence. COVID-19 significantly hindered asthma patients, as many avoided medical check-ups due to fears of contagion. Methods: We used a qualitative-participatory approach to co-design a health initiative that promotes pediatric ASM guided by the socio-cognitive model (SCT) informed by Latin American scholarship and prior studies in health education. We held focus groups with patients and caregivers in Cuenca, Ecuador. In these collaborative sessions, we used participatory diagrams and mock pieces to co-create activities to improve ASM based on participants’ knowledge and needs. For the analysis, we used two coding layers: open coding to identify common asthma issues and thematic coding aligned with the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) management protocols to understand self-management challenges. Results: Participants preferred learning about ASM through video tutorials on social media and interactive play-and-learn activities. Conclusion: Online and social media platforms can be used to successfully educate patients on ASM. Additionally, participatory co-design facilitates collaboration among patients and researchers to develop tailored health initiatives to promote education and adopting healthy behaviors.