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29 November 2011 |

Asthma Society Awards Cork Nurse Oran O’Mhuire Bursary for Second Year Running

Kathleen Ó Muiré presenting Mary Hughes the Órán Ó Muiré BursaryMary Hughes of the Catherine McAuley School of Nursing and Midwifery, University College Cork, has been awarded the Órán Ó Muiré Bursary for Nurse Led Asthma Research, for the continuation of her research project entitled "Adolescent Asthma Symptom Control: A Grounded Theory". The Asthma Society of Ireland awarded the Bursary of €1,500 in a ceremony held last night in the Irish Royal Academy. It is the second year running that Nurse Mary Hughes has won the prestigious research bursary.

The overall aim of the project is to explore how adolescents with asthma manage and control their symptoms, investigate how their asthma symptoms impact on their daily lives, and to gain an understanding of their perception of the effectiveness of symptom management strategies. The project also aims to determine adolescents’ preference for how information about managing their asthma is delivered, and ultimately use this information in developing future age appropriate treatment guidelines and plan to manage the care of adolescents in Ireland.The adjudicating panel commended Mary for her strong proposal and the potential value of her findings to developing adolescent asthma care and support, an issue that is of particular concern for parents, health care professionals and the Asthma Society of Ireland. The continuation of funding for this project will provide a deeper knowledge for the Asthma Society of Ireland that targets the specific concerns of adolescents with asthma. The findings of Nurse Mary Hughes’ work has so far shown great potential for developing appropriate information and support for adolescents with asthma.


Speaking at the awards ceremony, winner Mary Hughes said; “The focus of my research proposal is to link the data with existing knowledge. Since winning the Bursary last year, the funding has allowed me to make great progress in developing a combination of new research and current management guidelines. I hope these findings will ultimately lead to future national and international treatment guidelines specific to adolescent asthma management and care for adolescents. I am thrilled my submittal was chosen as the bursary winner for the second year running. The Asthma Society of Ireland’s support of my research has been a fundamental part of my work and I look forward to sharing the results of my research and working closely with their Medical Committee in the coming year”.


The Rothwell Family from Swords, Co Dublin was awarded the 2011 Asthma Society of Ireland “Volunteer of the Year” award. This is the second year this award has been presented, recognising the outstanding contribution and achievement of one of the Asthma Society’s volunteers. The Rothwell family has been a long time supporter of the Asthma Society of Ireland and has taken part in many fundraising activities throughout the years. The Rothwells tragically lost their son Michael to asthma in December 2000. To honour his memory the Rothwells held a fundraising evening to mark the ten year anniversary of his death and to commemorate what would have been Michael’s 30th birthday on 14th of March. Along with several other fundraising events Rothwell family members took part in during 2011, the benefit night raised over €7,000 to support the work of the Asthma Society of Ireland.

Asthma Society Chairperson, Angela Edghill speaking at the awards ceremony commented; “The Asthma Society of Ireland is delighted to award the Órán Ó Muiré Bursary, in honour of our late founder, to Nurse Mary Hughes for the important research she is undertaking. This evening’s award ceremony is a very special occasion for the Asthma Society. We recognize the importance of understanding how young people manage their asthma. Tragically there is more than one asthma related death in Ireland every week. “Volunteer of the Year” winners, the Rothwell family are an example of the many people in Ireland whose lives has been tragically affected by poor asthma control when they lost their son and brother, Michael, to asthma ten years ago at age 19. The Asthma Society of Ireland hopes that this bursary will contribute to an improvement in asthma management guidelines for adolescents, positively influencing how young people manage their asthma, and thus avoiding asthma deaths in the future.”

The head of the adjudicating panel, Asthma Society Asthma Nurse Specialist, Nurse Frances Guiney commented on the winning submittal; “The primary objective of the Asthma Society is to see asthma well managed in line with international best practice. Of the almost half a million people in Ireland with asthma, almost 60% do not have their asthma controlled. Adolescents with asthma have been recognised as a particularly vulnerable group which suffers with poor asthma control. This research aims to address the control levels of this group, which we hope will lead to improved treatment guidelines and quality of live for adolescents with asthma in Ireland.”

For more information on the Órán Ó Muiré Bursary contact the Asthma Society of Ireland on 01 8178886.
 

 

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