Visual illness narratives of asthma: explanatory models and health-related behavior.

OBJECTIVE: To examine explanatory models of asthma and health-related behaviors.

METHODS: Children and adolescents with poorly controlled asthma used Video Intervention/Prevention Assessment (VIA) to generate visual illness narratives. Visual narratives were logged, structured using ATLAS.ti software, and coded for asthma-related beliefs and behaviors.

RESULTS: Participants' knowledge of asthma reflected biomedical models they had been taught, but explanatory models of its origin, natural history, and prognosis were more responsive to personal experience, anecdote, and cultural beliefs. Self-management and behavior were more powerfully affected by these models than by knowledge.

CONCLUSION: Understanding and responding to explanatory models of asthma management may be more important than education to improve asthma-related behaviors and adherence to medical plans.