We have several dozen patients with asthma who receive care at the Centre Sante de la Grace du Bon Samaritain. All of these patients administer medications to treat their asthma using an inhaler. Inhalers must be used correctly in order to administer the medication. Improper use of an inhaler will not deliver the medication, for example, some patients exhale as they release the medication from the inhaler. It can be very challenging to teach a patient how to use an inhaler properly. Spacers help overcome poor technique with inhaler use. The inhaler is inserted into a tube like structure and then the patient places their mouth over the opposite end of the tube and releases medication from the inhaler and breathes normally for a short time period. Unfortunately, we do not get donations of inhalers very often and I have not yet found where they can be purchased in country. So we improvise using an empty plastic soda bottle and duct tape. And the end product works really well in place of an official spacer.

Below are some pictures of the creation of a “spacer” for a patient who was struggling to use her inhaler correctly. And for those of you who don’t know, degaje is the Creole word for improvise.