Use of the Internet is growing for much of the same reasons. The Internet is a vast sea of information only a finger tip away for anyone. With increase in use, the Internet is an excellent medium for consumer health education. The topic chosen for the CAI program was teaching parents of children with asthma or bronchoconstriction how to correctly use an inhaler with a spacer.
Patient education is therefore a major component of asthma management.
Education regarding spacers was chosen because of the increased frequency of spacer use by children. An expert panel of four Registered Nurse Practitioners certified in Pediatrics reviewed the CAI program entitled Space to Breathe and completed a questionnaire regarding the program. The questionnaire was used to evaluate the value of using CAI on the Internet as patient education. This has increased from 15.6 million in 1997. Most consumers no longer have to go to a library or encyclopedia to gain health information.