Testimonials
CASE STUDY 1 - What Sonasure means to children like Sophie.
Meet Sophie
Sophie is an active 10-year-old girl and is of normal height and weight (51” and 5 stone). She has moderate, persistent asthma and her doctor prescribes her a rescue inhaler, a burst steroid treatment and a controller medicine. Sophie usually, but not always, takes her controller medicine. She also takes her inhaler when she starts to wheeze. She only takes her burst steroid treatment when her mother tells her to do so.
Sophie’s Care Network
An Episode without Sonasure
It is a weeknight and Sophie’s mum has worked all day and Jane has watched Sophie after school. Sophie spent the late afternoon (4:30-6pm) playing outside in the leaves. The weather has been chilly and it has been wet for the last few nights. The mould count is high, and leaf mould is a major trigger for Sophie’s asthma.
She had a 10-minute bout of coughing while outside at about 5:30pm, but otherwise feels fine. She comes in the house, eats dinner, does her homework and does not have difficulty breathing. Her breathing was a bit laboured and her chest felt tight when she went to bed at 9:30pm, but she didn’t tell her mum.
Sophie’s breathing worsens and at 11pm she self-administers her rescue inhaler. However, her condition worsens and she wakes her mum at 11:30pm with an asthma attack in progress. Her mum administers her rescue inhaler again but to no effect. Sophie’s breathing continues to deteriorate and her mum administers her burst steroid by inhaler and orally, in the hope that this will provide Sophie some relief.
At 1am, Sophie’s lips have a bluish hue and she is struggling to breath. Her mum administers the nebulizer and Sophie still does not improve, at which time, mum begins to panic. She wakes her youngest daughter, puts them both into the car and rushes to the nearest hospital. By the time they arrive, Sophie’s lips are blue, she’s gasping for breath, and she’s terrified.
Her younger sister is scared and crying. Her panicked mother is trying to calm them both as she runs up to the front desk,
explaining that her daughter is having an asthma attack. Sophie is immediately brought into a treatment room where she is treated and monitored over the next few hours until she can breathe a bit better. Sophie is released at 4am.
Sophie’s attack leaves her weak. She misses school the next day and her mum stays at home with her, losing a days wages as a result.
The quality of life for Sophie, her mum and sister is poor.
An Episode With SonaSure
Sophie had a 10-minute bout of coughing while outside at about 5:30pm, but otherwise feels fine. She is wearing her CoughAware monitor and the monitor detects the bout of coughing and sends a text message to Jane and to Sophie’s mum at 5:40pm, alerting them to the coughing.
Jane texts Sophie’s mum to tell her that she is responding to the coughing bout. She calls Sophie into the house and makes her take her rescue inhaler and extra steroids. Jane checks the pollen count on her phone app and tells Sophie to wash and change her clothes.
Sophie eats dinner, does her homework and does not have difficulty breathing. Sophie goes to bed and sleeps through the night. Sophie’s asthma attack has been averted. The next day, Sophie goes to school and her mum goes to work as usual. The family enjoy a good quality of life.
Meet Sophie
Sophie is an active 10-year-old girl and is of normal height and weight (51” and 5 stone). She has moderate, persistent asthma and her doctor prescribes her a rescue inhaler, a burst steroid treatment and a controller medicine. Sophie usually, but not always, takes her controller medicine. She also takes her inhaler when she starts to wheeze. She only takes her burst steroid treatment when her mother tells her to do so.
Sophie’s Care Network
- Sophie’s mum works full time. She uses a smartphone and has a computer at home. She is asthma-educated and engaged.
- Sophie’s school nurse sees five children with poorly controlled asthma. She works actively with parents to obtain asthma action plans. She gives asthma care advice to students.
- Jane is a 17-year-old student who watches Sophie after school. She knows that Sophie has to use her rescue inhaler when needed and to call Sophie’s mum if it does not work.
An Episode without Sonasure
It is a weeknight and Sophie’s mum has worked all day and Jane has watched Sophie after school. Sophie spent the late afternoon (4:30-6pm) playing outside in the leaves. The weather has been chilly and it has been wet for the last few nights. The mould count is high, and leaf mould is a major trigger for Sophie’s asthma.
She had a 10-minute bout of coughing while outside at about 5:30pm, but otherwise feels fine. She comes in the house, eats dinner, does her homework and does not have difficulty breathing. Her breathing was a bit laboured and her chest felt tight when she went to bed at 9:30pm, but she didn’t tell her mum.
Sophie’s breathing worsens and at 11pm she self-administers her rescue inhaler. However, her condition worsens and she wakes her mum at 11:30pm with an asthma attack in progress. Her mum administers her rescue inhaler again but to no effect. Sophie’s breathing continues to deteriorate and her mum administers her burst steroid by inhaler and orally, in the hope that this will provide Sophie some relief.
At 1am, Sophie’s lips have a bluish hue and she is struggling to breath. Her mum administers the nebulizer and Sophie still does not improve, at which time, mum begins to panic. She wakes her youngest daughter, puts them both into the car and rushes to the nearest hospital. By the time they arrive, Sophie’s lips are blue, she’s gasping for breath, and she’s terrified.
Her younger sister is scared and crying. Her panicked mother is trying to calm them both as she runs up to the front desk,
explaining that her daughter is having an asthma attack. Sophie is immediately brought into a treatment room where she is treated and monitored over the next few hours until she can breathe a bit better. Sophie is released at 4am.
Sophie’s attack leaves her weak. She misses school the next day and her mum stays at home with her, losing a days wages as a result.
The quality of life for Sophie, her mum and sister is poor.
An Episode With SonaSure
Sophie had a 10-minute bout of coughing while outside at about 5:30pm, but otherwise feels fine. She is wearing her CoughAware monitor and the monitor detects the bout of coughing and sends a text message to Jane and to Sophie’s mum at 5:40pm, alerting them to the coughing.
Jane texts Sophie’s mum to tell her that she is responding to the coughing bout. She calls Sophie into the house and makes her take her rescue inhaler and extra steroids. Jane checks the pollen count on her phone app and tells Sophie to wash and change her clothes.
Sophie eats dinner, does her homework and does not have difficulty breathing. Sophie goes to bed and sleeps through the night. Sophie’s asthma attack has been averted. The next day, Sophie goes to school and her mum goes to work as usual. The family enjoy a good quality of life.
CASE STUDY 2 - What SonaSure means to senior citizens like Margaret.
Meet Margaret
Margaret is a 74-year-old widow who lives by herself. She is of normal height and weight (5’4 and 7 stone 9lbs). She has poorly controlled COPD when she has a cold or the flu as a co-morbid condition. She almost never complains about her health until she is really suffering.
She has a 45-year-old son who lives 45 minutes away by car. He calls her every evening for a chat and visits at the weekend.
Margaret is proud of her son and his senior position at work. Her son has two children in their teens and Margaret speaks to them every week on the phone.
Margaret’s Care Network
An Episode Without SonaSure
It is Monday night and Margaret comes down with a respiratory infection. In spite of worsening coughing and feeling poorly, Margaret hides it from her son and daughter- in-law until Thursday. On Thursday, John calls and hears his mother breathlessness, coughing and wheezing over the phone. He drives over to see his mum and she has a very nasty cough and is breathless.
John calls Margaret’s GP who tells him to bring her in right away. They meet at the surgery at 8pm. The GP suspects pneumonia and immediately starts her on an antibiotic and oral steroids, along with additional inhaled medications (bronchodilators and corticosteroids) for her COPD. The GP also tells Margaret to rest for 24-48 hours until the medicines have a chance to make her feel better. John takes her back home and tells her that Sarah will come over the following day. John stays until Margaret is comfortable in bed and has all that she needs.
Margaret does not sleep well and decides to clean the kitchen because Sarah is coming round the next day. Margaret becomes faint from the activity, falls and hits her head very hard on the sink. She lies on the kitchen floor for about a half hour and then crawls to her purse, finds her mobile phone and calls John.
John calls an ambulance and his mum is taken to hospital. Margaret has a concussion and needs three stitches. Owing to the severity of her fall and the pneumonia, they keep her in hospital for four days. John goes to the hospital to visit his mum and misses a days work as a result.
The quality of life for Margaret and John is very poor.
An Episode With SonaSure
While Margaret hides her coughing from John during his evening call, her SonaSure monitor detects that her coughing is much worse on Tuesday. SonaSure sends a text message to John and Sarah on Tuesday at 10am. Sarah takes charge and SonaSure texts John with this information. Sarah drives to see Margaret, sees that she is feeling poorly and has a nasty, painful cough.
She takes Margaret to see her GP right away. Margaret’s GP suspects pneumonia and immediately starts her on an antibiotic and oral steroids, along with additional inhaled medications (bronchodilators and corticosteroids) for her COPD. The GP also tells her to rest for 24-48 hours until the medicines have a chance to make her feel better. Sarah decides to stay with Margaret for the night and that John can deal with dinner and getting the children to school the next morning. Margaret is feeling somewhat better in 24 hours and completely better in 7 days.
Meet Margaret
Margaret is a 74-year-old widow who lives by herself. She is of normal height and weight (5’4 and 7 stone 9lbs). She has poorly controlled COPD when she has a cold or the flu as a co-morbid condition. She almost never complains about her health until she is really suffering.
She has a 45-year-old son who lives 45 minutes away by car. He calls her every evening for a chat and visits at the weekend.
Margaret is proud of her son and his senior position at work. Her son has two children in their teens and Margaret speaks to them every week on the phone.
Margaret’s Care Network
- Margaret uses a basic mobile phone and has a computer at home. She is COPD-educated but not always engaged in actively managing her health.
- Margaret’s son John uses a smartphone and has a computer at home.
- Margaret’s daughter-in-law Sarah helps out with Margaret if John is busy at work. She often takes Margaret to her doctor’s appointments.
An Episode Without SonaSure
It is Monday night and Margaret comes down with a respiratory infection. In spite of worsening coughing and feeling poorly, Margaret hides it from her son and daughter- in-law until Thursday. On Thursday, John calls and hears his mother breathlessness, coughing and wheezing over the phone. He drives over to see his mum and she has a very nasty cough and is breathless.
John calls Margaret’s GP who tells him to bring her in right away. They meet at the surgery at 8pm. The GP suspects pneumonia and immediately starts her on an antibiotic and oral steroids, along with additional inhaled medications (bronchodilators and corticosteroids) for her COPD. The GP also tells Margaret to rest for 24-48 hours until the medicines have a chance to make her feel better. John takes her back home and tells her that Sarah will come over the following day. John stays until Margaret is comfortable in bed and has all that she needs.
Margaret does not sleep well and decides to clean the kitchen because Sarah is coming round the next day. Margaret becomes faint from the activity, falls and hits her head very hard on the sink. She lies on the kitchen floor for about a half hour and then crawls to her purse, finds her mobile phone and calls John.
John calls an ambulance and his mum is taken to hospital. Margaret has a concussion and needs three stitches. Owing to the severity of her fall and the pneumonia, they keep her in hospital for four days. John goes to the hospital to visit his mum and misses a days work as a result.
The quality of life for Margaret and John is very poor.
An Episode With SonaSure
While Margaret hides her coughing from John during his evening call, her SonaSure monitor detects that her coughing is much worse on Tuesday. SonaSure sends a text message to John and Sarah on Tuesday at 10am. Sarah takes charge and SonaSure texts John with this information. Sarah drives to see Margaret, sees that she is feeling poorly and has a nasty, painful cough.
She takes Margaret to see her GP right away. Margaret’s GP suspects pneumonia and immediately starts her on an antibiotic and oral steroids, along with additional inhaled medications (bronchodilators and corticosteroids) for her COPD. The GP also tells her to rest for 24-48 hours until the medicines have a chance to make her feel better. Sarah decides to stay with Margaret for the night and that John can deal with dinner and getting the children to school the next morning. Margaret is feeling somewhat better in 24 hours and completely better in 7 days.