Alleviating anxiety after a child's asthma diagnosis

When addressing concerns about an asthma diagnosis, or any diagnosis, clinicians are moving into a complex area that is often not taught in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and medicine.^1-3 This article will focus on the concerns of parents around an asthma diagnosis⁴ - however, it is easily applicable to patients diagnosed with asthma (and indeed other diagnoses). Consideration of the psychological effects of diagnosis is vital to encourage compliance, concordance and shared decision-making, so that our patients and their carers' can optimise the quality of life and outcomes.^5,6

This article will work through issues around the ideas, concerns and expectations of parents. Professional considerations around time to diagnosis and confidence of diagnosis that can impact on care are discussed.