A-Team® Asthma Education Program
Background
 Workshop format
Current series
Interested in attending a workshop?
Interested in hosting a workshop?
Interested in joining the A-Team?
More information
Background
The National Asthma Council Australia‘s
A-Team™ – a group of trained asthma experts –
regularly runs asthma education workshops across
Australia for GPs, practice nurses, asthma
educators and other health professionals.
The NAC established the A-Team Asthma Education
Program in 2002 to reinforce and increase levels of
awareness in best-practice asthma management.
Funded by the Australian Department of Health and
Ageing, the program involves the training and
support of expert asthma presenters (A-Team) to
deliver education workshops with Divisions of
General Practice and their State Based Organisations
across Australia.
The success of the initial A-Team project in
2002–2003 led to the development of phase 2 in
2004-2006. The A-Team program is now in its third phase,
covering the 2007–2009 triennium.
There are A-Team members from almost every state
and territory, comprising GPs, asthma educators and
respiratory physicians.
A-Team workshops are evaluated regularly and the
responses have been overwhelmingly positive. In the
2005 review:
-
96% of participants rated the
presentation and material as ‘useful’ or ‘very
useful’
-
90% of participants reported
they had learned ‘specific strategies for
reducing the burden of asthma’
-
93% of participants reported
they had ‘improved their knowledge of the
clinical management of asthma’.
Workshop format
Each workshop is run as a single stand-alone
session, hosted by a Division of General Practice in
consultation with the NAC.
Attendees include GPs, practice nurses, asthma
educators, pharmacists and other allied health
professionals.
The A-Team usually presents as a team of one
doctor (GP or respiratory physician) and one asthma
educator. There is often the opportunity to tailor
the presenters to best suit the participants,
depending on availability of A-Team members.
All presentation material is provided by the NAC
to ensure the information is consistent, complete
and up-to-date, and to reduce the burden on
presenters.
Resource kits are provided for attendees by the
NAC.
Current series
The current series of workshops focuses on the
Asthma Cycle of Care
(the former Asthma 3+ Visit Plan).
In addition to the compulsory component, each
2-hour session will cover 2–3 asthma topics chosen by the
particular Division from the A-Team education
modules. The modules include spirometry,
medications, allergy, paediatric asthma, older adult
asthma, device technique and COPD.
The A-Team has been presenting the current series
of workshops since mid 2007, with locations ranging
from suburban Melbourne to remote Kununurra in WA.
More than 50% of the workshops in the current
series will be held in rural or remote areas.
Professional development recognition
Workshop participants may be
eligible for continuing professional development
(CPD) points from the following organisations:
-
Royal Australian College of
General Practitioners (RACGP): Approved by the
RACGP QA&CPD program for 2 points per hour.
Total CPD points: 4 (Category 2). Activity no.:
737178
-
Pharmaceutical Society of
Australia (PSA): Recognised under the PSA CPD&PI
program as a Group 1 activity for 2 points
according to approved PSA guidelines.
Recognition no.: CR07-0042
-
Australian College of Rural and
Remote Medicine (ACRRM): Accredited by ACRRM as
an educational event for 2 PDP points. Activity
code: EEACR-8000-NASC
-
Royal College of Nursing,
Australia (RCNA): This workshop has been
endorsed by RCNA according to approved criteria
for 2 CNE points
Interested in attending a workshop?
The host
Division of General Practice coordinates attendance
and scheduling of workshops. If you are interested
in attending a workshop, please contact your local
Division.
Interested in hosting a workshop?
Hosting a workshop is usually quite
straightforward, as the NAC will coordinate the
presenters and resource materials (including
associated costs).
The Division will need to:
-
Schedule and organise one or
more sessions
-
Arrange the venue, audiovisual
equipment and catering
-
Promote the workshop to health
professionals in the area, including GPs, asthma
educators, practice nurses and pharmacists
-
Receive registrations and
confirm attendee participation
-
Be on-hand to coordinate the
running of the workshop.
Funding is available to assist
Divisions with the costs.
If your Division would like to host
a workshop, please complete a Workshop Request Form.
A-Team Workshop Request Form (59 KB)
Interested in joining the A-Team?
The NAC is keen to involve health professionals
from all areas of Australia in the A-Team. Members
generally present workshops in their local region,
although volunteers for travel are occasionally
sought.
A-Team members are usually health professionals
with asthma management expertise and adult education
experience. Preference is given to respiratory
physicians, GPs or asthma educators (RN Div 1),
although applications from other allied health
professionals will be considered.
Training on the presentation material is provided to
A-Team members as requested.
The Department of Health and Ageing has granted
funds to the NAC for A-Team member sitting fees. The
per-day fee will be paid for workshop presentations
and any in-person training sessions.
In addition, the NAC has limited funds for A-Team
travel expenses to rural workshops (arrangements
will be confirmed prior to travel).
If you are interested in joining the A-Team,
please complete an Expression of Interest Form.
Expression of Interest Form (41 KB)
More information
For more information on the A-Team Asthma
Education Program, including hosting a workshop or
joining the A-Team, please contact:
Judi Wicking, Project Officer
National
Asthma Council Australia
 A-Team®
is a registered trademark of National Asthma Council of Australia
Ltd |
