Asthma Right Care - North Macedonia update
In March 2023, Asthma Right Care launched in North Macedonia, beginning its work of promoting its resources and building a network of health professionals, stakeholders and patients to be actively involved.
On 17-18 May 2023, Asthma Right Care North Macedonia organised a Teach the Teacher workshop in Skopje with a faculty comprised of Katarina Stavrikj and Valentina Nejasmic, along with Jaime Correia de Sousa from Portugal. Siân Williams and Luís Alves also participated in online sessions. This workshop was organised as a pre-congress activity before Jaime presented the Asthma Right Care initiative to the 5th Congress of General Practice/Family Medicine.
The workshop had 22 participants including 11 general practitioners, 10 pharmacists and 1 nurse. Participants were divided into three working groups facilitated by faculty members, where they developed teaching modules and agreed to produce translations of the Asthma Slide Rule and Question & Challenge Cards for use in future projects. One of these projects relates to the education of a new pharmacists educators group, while others focused on educating healthcare workers and patients.
During the workshop, Siân Williams presented on the newest activities and achievements of the Asthma Right Care initiative and led an interactive session on the challenges of asthma diagnosis and control in the community.
On June 1, a one-hour online session ‘Assessing learning and mentoring; Project planning; Evaluating your programme and impact’ took place, and a final presentation of the prepared projects took place on 17 June. In the background, the working groups remain in close communication finalising the projects and educational materials.
The workshop was positively evaluated, with participants acquiring new skills and expertise. The attendees showed enthusiasm and a desire to make a difference in the care of asthma patients. The enthusiasm of pharmacists for active involvement in the health system and the provision of high-quality, efficient patient care was particularly noted.
In this fruitful workshop, many ideas were shared and relationships developed, which has given Asthma Right Care a strong start in North Macedonia. We look forward to sharing news on their initiatives in the future.
