Use your inhaler!Getting an asthmatic college student to take the prescribed daily preventative inhaler once a day in the morning

Priority Map by Catherine LuOctober 2012cglu@stanford.edu

Expert Focus Area

Preliminary Mapping

Very effective in getting Sam to take daily asthma inhaler

Not effective in getting Sam to take daily asthma inhaler

No w

ay. W

e can

’t ge

t Sam

to d

o th

is Yes! We can get Sam

to do this

Sam becomes a mentor for a young asthmatic (e.g.

through a volunteer club)Sam joins an asthmatics

group on campus

Sam hears personal stories about benefits of using a

preventative inhaler

Sam signs up for an online forum for asthmatics

Sam makes a pact with an asthmatic friend to

use a daily inhaler

Sam researches benefits of using a

preventative inhaler

Sam attends a summit for asthmatics

Sam becomes a campus advocate for

healthy behaviors

Sam takes an immunology class where she learns

about asthma

Sam watches a video about benefits of using a preventative inhaler

Sam thinks “I’m awesome” each time she uses her inhaler

Sam buys a year-supply of the preventative inhaler

Sam makes a verbal promise to her parents to

use her inhaler daily

Sam keeps track of the longest streak for using her inhaler, and rewards herself (e.g. by shopping:

# days x $5)

Sam signs up for a rewards system where she gets

prizes for reporting taking medication

Sam joins a newsletter for

asthmatics

Sam takes her inhaler daily for the next week

Sam puts a sign on her door to remind herself

to use her inhaler

Sam places her inhaler next to her toothbrush

Sam inputs a daily phone reminder to

use her inhaler

Sam inputs a Google calendar reminder to use her inhaler

Sam asks asthma questions at her next doctor’s visit

Sam watches a video about how to use an

inhaler properly

Sam tells herself that using the inhaler allows

her to be healthier

• One-time behaviors for achieving this goal are easy to do and can be effective by setting up future healthy behaviors

• It will be necessary to design for at least two groups (“forgetful” and “unmotivated”)

• It’s much harder to motivate someone who does not want to take asthma medication than to remind someone who does

Insights