This assignment gives your first experience of reading and reacting to journal literature in Allied Health Research.  Many students never realize there's a world beyond the textbooks and websites so it's all new to them.  You learn that in your specialty things are published every day that are new.  You will have to keep up to maintain your professional competency.  Journals are a resource that you can use, both here in school and when you get out in a professional situation.  The assignment is carefully sequenced with clear due dates and instructions. 

I believe that all of you, as future health care professionals, should be aware of how you can keep up on new developments in allied health and the issues that surround them.  Therefore, the objectives of this assignment are to familiarize you with the available literature in medicine and allied health.  

To meet the objectives of the assignment, you will:

·         Read and study, in detail, one current article on a topic covered in class from a journal of your profession and/or related to your research project. 

·         You will submit two assigned journal articles to your webpage and a notice that you have done so to the appropriate Discussion Forums.  You may add any other information to the Journal Article Discussion Forum that you would like.  

Details of What You Need To Do: 

1.      Go to the library and check out the issues of the journal.  You can also use the Online Sherrod Library for a resource.

2.      TIP: Most Journals publish a subject index in their December issue.  This is extremely useful and convenient when performing searches on subjects. 

3.      Look through the selected article ass well as the rest of that issue of the journal and several other recent issues to get a clear understanding of:

4.      what kinds of information is published,

5.      what audience it is intended to serve

6.      Whether references for further information are given. 

7.      Complete the Journal Article Review Form and submit by the due date. 

To receive full credit for this assignment, you must answer all questions on the review form and submit it by the due date.  Below is the information you should submit to BlackBoard and your Research Website:

Title of Journal

Article Optimizing Patient Education to Control Asthma Exacerbations__________________________________________________

Title of Journal

__AARC Times________________________________________________________________________

Volume____33 Issue 2______________________ Date _2__/_____/_09___ Page Number(s) ___8-10_________

·         What organization is responsible for publishing the journal you chose? American Association for Respiratory Care

·         What is your overall evaluation of this article?

____Poor          ___x___Fair            ______Good        _______Very Good       _____Excellent

·         Why did you choose to review this particular article? Because within the article it explains how to obtain control of asthma by using the tool of the AIRE Program. The article also provides statistics on Medicare monies that are spent on chronic diseases like asthma. The patient, within the article, is looked at as a whole person and not just a wheezer. The AIRE program provides education and follow up visits to patient with asthma and offers additional testing as the child grows, this is what I plan to initiate when I graduate.

How would you rate this article as a tool for teaching a student about cardiopulmonary physiology, radiography, or another allied health specialty? 

Students:               ____Poor       ____Fair       _____Good     __x__Very Good      _____Excellent

Teachers:               ____Poor       _x__Fair       _____Good     _____Very Good      _____Excellent

Patients:                 ____Poor       ____Fair       _____Good     __x__Very Good      _____Excellent

·         Comment on the readability of this article.  The article was written in a laymen’s form. In other words there was no medical terminology used unless it was referring to other testing that was provided.

·         Course Topics covered: Asthma, Clinic guidelines, Asthma Educators tips, Triggers, Props Myths and Mistakes of patients.

·         Brief Summary: The article is a focus on asthma and how to provide the proper education to the people that need it.  A program for asthmatic based in Pennsylvania is targeting asthmatics and educating them on their disease.  The article gives tips on what can be done to combat the enormous influx of asthmatics coming into the E.R.  Other topics covered are misconception on drugs used to treat patients with asthma and what test can effective detect asthma. The article offers an insight on how to run a successful clinic and the guidelines to follow.

·         Identify and attempt to explain three (3) terms, procedures or concepts that were unfamiliar to you when reviewing this article. 1. Common misconceptions about steroids 2.Some of the testing used to control and monitor asthma. 3. Using visual aids in the effective education of asthmatics.

·         Detail the strengths/weaknesses of this article.

 I found some of the content resentful; the article expressed its target clientele and later stated “they break it down plain”. This is not the first time I have read that asthma clinics avoid giving printed reading material to their patients. Their Focus is more visual with demonstration and props. I have also heard, not in this article that the material needed to be dumbed down. I can only conclude that this is because of the race of the majority of asthmatics. I know that most asthmatic come from impoverished communities but does that necessarily mean that they are dumb?

·         How might this article be useful to you in your further studies and career? The goal of asthma Education is to aid in decrease the amount of missed work days and school day. An asthma educator also tries to teach the patient helpful tips on managing the disease so that so kind of normalcy can exit in their lives.

·         Does the article include a list of references/citations that can be used to find more information on the topics they cover? Yes 

Your Name Shannon Coles_________________ Date: _2__/__12__/__09_