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My four-year-old was digging in our garden when she came across a worm. It fascinated her, and we had a long discussion about which end was its head, its favorite food, and if she could keep it as a pet.
These are the fleeting opportunities that parents and teachers seize as teachable moments. They sense the child has an engaged interest in a concept, and they take a tangent because the timing is right to maximize learning. Increasingly, health care professionals look for such teachable moments with their asthma patients in the emergency department.
This issue's cover story describes how several EDs are incorporating asthma education into every patient encounter. Each model is a bit different, but the idea is an acute exacerbation can be a huge attention-getter. Patients may listen more seriously to a brief intervention about "must-know" asthma management skills when they are lying on an ED gurney.
An ED visit also can be a prime motivator to enroll patients in a follow-up asthma education program. These sessions allow for individualized instruction in a quieter setting and offer social support to help patients stay on track with their asthma action plans.
A Cochrane review published this year found asthma education interventions in EDs reduced subsequent hospital admissions; however, little evidence showed their impact on long-term outcomes. Due to the studies' varied approaches, the review authors could not pinpoint which program components worked or which health care team members were most effective at providing the education.
I will venture to say that you, my dear readers, are the ones who are the best at delivering asthma education in the ED and any other setting. As well, you are ideally suited to launch well-designed studies on asthma education and specific outcome measurements.
Perhaps I have hit a teachable moment, and you will go back to your ED to assess your asthma education interventions. If you keep digging, you may not find a worm, but a golden opportunity. 
Contact Sharlene George at sgeorge@advanceweb.com.
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