Upplevda barriärer inom svensk astmavård : En intervjustudie med nyckelpersoner inom astmavården

Sammanfattning: Background: Asthma has a high prevalence in Sweden which requires asthma care to handle the many diverse patients and insure high quality treatment. Problem is that all care in Sweden contains many barriers for patients. It is crucial to minimalize these barriers in order to increase the efficiency and quality of care, as well as reduce the many costs associated with noneffective treatments. Aim: The aim of this study is to identify various perceived barriers within Swedishasthma care and to seek understanding in how these barriers are seen by different stakeholdersworking directly or indirectly with asthma care. Method: This study is a semi-structured key informant interview with 8 participants ranging from primary and secondary care from different regions, from different agencies, authorities and pharmaceutical companies in Sweden. Results:The identified barriers were based on knowledge, resources, asthma as a disease and cooperation within asthma care. There exists a strong view that the primary care providers lack in amount ofresources, primarily personnel and time available for treating patients. Specialized asthma personnel was also lacking. Patients lack the needed knowledge to comply with their given treatments. Simple improvements such as clear treatment plans and a thorough patient educationwere thought to eliminate many barriers. Asthma care is most lacking in resources and patients in knowledge. Conclusion: More specialized asthma nurses in primary care and specialist in specialist care could to alleviate many of the barriers facing asthma care. More patient education needs to be given in order to properly inform patients of their treatment.