SummerOnair_KW

Asthma & COPD Telehealth Service
AFWA is now just a (video) call away.
People living in the Wheatbelt, Great Southern
and the Goldfields can now speak to AFWA’s
respiratory educators about their asthma, chronic
bronchitis or emphysema without leaving town,
thanks to the new innovative telehealth service
launched in September 2016.
The Asthma and COPD telehealth service uses
phone and video conferencing technology to
connect rural people who have problems breathing
or are feeling breathless with AFWA’s experienced
Clinical Respiratory and Asthma Educators. People
can either visit their GP, Health Centre or Hospital
to be connected to the service, or they can simply
use their home computer.
Colin Easther, 74, resides in Northam and suffers
from moderate emphysema. The benefit of using
this service has allowed Colin to simply visit his
local Northam Hospital to speak to his respiratory
educator instead of travelling over an hour away
to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth.
“It’s very convenient, I just walk into a room and
talk to her on a television set,” he said. “Last time,
my respiratory educator gave me a demonstration
of how to use the new equipment using a
mannequin. It was very easy to see and I could ask
her questions straight away, it’s a good system.”
Colin also highlighted the ease of the Telehealth
technology, stating “…you don’t need to be tech
savvy, all you need to do is adjust the volume
knob.”
This service is not a replacement for existing
asthma and COPD services within these regions
and has been designed to work in collaboration
with local doctors to help their patients, through
filling gaps in asthma and COPD education and
clinical support.
It will help to increase and improve AFWA’s reach
to regions of WA that were previously inaccessible
to our Perth metropolitan based team of Asthma
Educators. By ensuring all people residing in rural
and regional Western Australia receive the support
and care they need at the right place and time,
we are one step closer to achieving our mission
of reducing the burden of asthma and related
respiratory conditions on the West Australian
Community.
The Asthma & COPD Telehealth Service is the
result of a partnership between the WA Country
Health Service (WACHS) and the WA Primary
Health Alliance, the Country WA Primary Health
Network and the Asthma Foundation WA (AFWA).
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