A computer-based character providing personalised treatment aims to cut the number of deaths from asthma among teenage sufferers in the U.S. The character, called DJ Puffman, is part of a new healthcare programme, which uses new ways of interacting with youngsters to reduce the number of fatalities.
Over the next three years, 300 youngsters aged between 14 and 17-years-old living in Georgia, in the U.S., will take part in the programme. Half will be exposed to well-established educational websites on asthma and the remainder will be directed to Puff City - a website designed by epidemiologists in Detroit.
Once at Puff City, the teenagers will get personalised advice from DJ Puffman about dealing with their condition. “The program really comes alive for them,” says Dr. Martha Tingen, a nurse researcher at the Georgia Prevention Institute, which is overseeing the programme. “It may ask a question, for instance, about how they can best remember to take their medication, maybe by placing it next to their cell phone at night. The next time they log in to the program, DJ Puffman will ask how that strategy is working for them.”
Participants in the programme come from rural areas, where the risk of death from asthma is frequently higher due to poor quality housing, the distance that patients have to travel for medical care, and the fact that rural hospitals are usually less well equipped than their urban counterparts. What’s more, smoking - a common trigger for asthma attacks - is more prevalent outside towns and cities.
In each group, teens will also receive four computerised asthma management sessions via their school computers. They will also discuss asthma-management issues and hear educational information on the disease.