Experiences of Early Adolescents with Allergic Asthma Receiving Online Education from Peers: A Qualitative Phenomenological Study.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the experiences and opinions of adolescents aged 10-14 years with allergic asthma in Turkiye about the online asthma education they received from their peers.

Methods: Eleven adolescents who had previously received peer education concerning asthma participated in this qualitative phenomenological study. These were asked semi-structured questions to evaluate peer education through a video chat program. Qualitative data were analyzed using N'Vivo (Version 12.5) software.

Results: Four main themes and 12 sub-themes were identified in the light of the data obtained from the interviews. 'The importance of friends' theme (T1) was established for the sharing, listening to their thoughts, caring about their opinions, and taking their suggestions into consideration sub-themes. 'The comfort derived from being with peers' them (T2) was established for the facilitating learning, feeling not alone, feeling understood, and motivation for recovery sub-themes. The reliability of information' theme (T3) was established for the believing in the reliability of the information and applying the information learned sub-themes, and the 'opinions about the educator' theme (T4) for the experiences with peer educators and suggestions for peer educators sub-themes.

Conclusions: The experiences and opinions of the adolescents with allergic asthma in this study were highly favorable regarding the education provided by their peers about the disease in an online environment.