Severe Asthma Toolkit: an online resource for multidisciplinary health professionals—needs assessment, development process and user analytics with survey feedback

OBJECTIVES: Severe asthma imposes a significant burden on individuals, families and the healthcare system. New treatment and management approaches are emerging as effective options for severe asthma. Translating new knowledge to multidisciplinary healthcare professionals is a priority. We developed ‘The Severe Asthma Toolkit’ (https://toolkit.severeasthma.org.au) to increase awareness of severe asthma, provide evidence-based resources and support decisionmaking by healthcare providers. SETTING: Roundtable discussions and a survey of Australians clinicians were conducted to determine clinician preferences, format and content for a severe asthma resource. PARTICIPANTS: A reference group from stakeholder and consumer bodies and severe asthma experts provided advice and feedback. A multidisciplinary team of international experts was engaged to develop content. Written content was based on up-to-date literature. Peer and editorial review were performed to finalise content and inform web design. Website design focused on user experience, navigation, engagement, interactivity and tailoring of content for a clinical audience. RESULTS: A web-based resource was developed. Roundtable discussions and a needs assessment survey identified the need for dedicated severe asthma management resources to support skills training. The end-product, which launched 26 March 2018, includes an overview of severe asthma, diagnosis and assessment, management, medications, comorbidities, living with severe asthma, establishing a clinic, paediatrics/adolescents and clinical resources. Analytics indicate access by users worldwide (32 169 users from 169 countries). User survey results (n=394) confirm access by the target audience (72% health professionals), who agreed the toolkit increased their knowledge (73%) and confidence in managing severe asthma (66%), and 75% are likely to use the resource in clinic. CONCLUSIONS: The Severe Asthma Toolkit is a unique, evidence-based internet resource to support healthcare professionals providing optimal care for people with severe asthma. It is a comprehensive, accessible and independent resource developed by leading severe asthma experts to improve clinician knowledge and skills in severe asthma management.