Section 4

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Creating supportive asthma policies/protocols/procedures at a school board level is beneficial in supporting the implementation of the 7 goals of the CAFS Resource Kit. Refer to the School Board checklists found in the CAFS Resource Kit for further information.

The steps involved in creating supportive asthma school policy/protocols/procedures are outlined below. Please note these are suggested steps only and have only been piloted in 2 communities. Every community and School Board will be structured differently, and the steps may occur in a different order.

 

Step 1:
Conduct Review of Existing School-based policies/procedures/protocols

Review existing school-based policies/procedures/protocols relating to asthma and any other similar health condition, including medication management.
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Step 2:
Find out WHO is responsible for the development and/or revision of school policies, protocols or procedures in your community (Identify groups and individuals within these groups).
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Step 3:
Find out WHAT policies/procedures and protocols currently exist related to asthma or other health conditions within the School Board? (e.g., medication management, anaphylaxis, diabetes).
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Step 4:
Contact identified key informants within the School Board to determine interest in developing and/or revising existing policies regarding asthma and asthma medications.

Is there interest in developing and/or revising policies, protocols or procedures relating to asthma issues with these individuals and/or groups? How would this occur? (e.g., informal conversation, meeting with senior management).

Yes there is support.
No support at present.

 

Support

No Support

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Follow direction from School Board as to how policies/protocols/procedures are developed.

 

Advocate for policy development at a later date.

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  1. Provide School Board with a CAFS Resource Kit and related asthma resources.
  2. Provide input as requested via participation on a committee, individual consultation etc.

 

It is important to note that even if school boards have an asthma policy/protocol in place it may not translate to implentation at the school level. Some of the possible reasons are listed below:

  • Poor communication: The asthma policy/protocol is not communicated to the school administrators in such a way that they clearly understand why the policy is necessary, how they are to implement it and what resources are available to assist them in implementing it.
  • Unclear wording in policy/protocol: If the wording is not clear regarding certain issues (e.g. access to medication) it is often left up to each school administrator to interpret how it is to be implemented. Some may in effect go against what the policy/protocol was intended to do simply because the wording was unclear.
  • Lack of enforcement: Many school boards are not able to monitor implementation of policies/protocols at the school level, making it very difficult to know how many schools are actually implementing it and to what degree.

To view an example of a school protocol click here