Asthma Jeopardy

Target group: any age

Aim: to promote teamwork and communication, and to reinforce asthma management concepts

Supplies: game board (including answer/question cards (see below), point value cards, and category cards), score board with markers, bells or buzzer system

Activity

• Create an Asthma Jeopardy board, use the PowerPoint Jeopardy game or use the white/black board - categories can be based on the asthma acronym (Action plan; Self-monitoring; Triggers; Health professionals partnerships; Medications; Active, healthy lifestyle).
• Along the left side of the board point signs, designate in asscending order (from 100 to 500 points) and attach with Velcro/tape.
• 2-4 teams should be created and given a system of ringing in to respond (i.e. a bell, buzzer, hockey stick, etc).
• A judge (counselor) determines who rings in first following the reading of the answer. The judge is also responsible for tracking the scores of the two teams.

To play:

• The game begins by selecting a team, which chooses the first category and point amount.
• That answer is read. The first team to press its buzzer or ring its bell tries to provide the question for the answer. If it does so:
  • correctly, the team receives the corresponding number of points and selects the next  category and point amount.
  • incorrectly, the point total that the answer is worth is deducted from their total and the other team is given a chance to respond.
    
• Once all of the questions have been identified the first round ends.
• If there is enough time, there can be a ‘double jeopardy’ round, or you can proceed directly to ‘final jeopardy’.

Final Jeopardy

• For final jeopardy, provide each team with two pieces of paper.
  • On one piece of paper, the team is to write how many points it wishes to wager. Remind them that if their question is incorrect, the team will lose the number of points they wagered (with younger children you may want to assign a point value to the final question).
  • On the second piece of paper, the team is to write the question to the final jeopardy answer.
• Read the Final Jeopardy question. Allow the teams a brief amount of time to decide on their answer.

The winning team is the one with the most points remaining at the end of the game.

Adjust the difficulty of the questions according to the age and skill level of the participants.

The game may also be played with more teams (3-4 is probably the most).

Examples of Answers

General Asthma

• Things that affects the lungs.
• They move air in and out of the body.
• A disease that causes difficulty in breathing.
• The airways squeeze tight, swell up and fill with mucus.
• Rest, relax, stay calm and take your medication.
• The best part of RAP.
• Our mascot’s name.

Triggers

• A pet that is faithful and keeps the robbers away.
• It increases the chances of lung cancer.
• You spray it to make your body smell good.
• Running skipping, baseball and soccer
• Tiny invisible particles, given off by trees, and grass.
• Grows in your shower and basement.
• They have fur and dander.
• What I should do before sports (if it’s a trigger for me).
• What to do about cold air (if it’s a trigger for me).
• Two triggers found mostly at school.

Symptoms

• Feeling of an elephant sitting on your chest.
• Feels as if you are whistling rather than breathing.
• Feels as if you are trying to catch your breath.
• Itch in the throat causes you to do this.
• Feeling of being sleepy all the time.
• A whistling sound you make when you breathe.
• Waking up at night coughing.

Monitoring

• Measures how fast you can blow.
• You can record your daily symptoms on it.
• The way your body tells you that you are not feeling well.
• You go to see this person regularly about your asthma.
• An action you do when feeling short of breath.

Medication

• Type of medicine that relaxes the airway muscles.
• Name of medicine that prevents asthma attack.
• It takes away the swelling in the air tubes.
• Name of medicine used prior to exercise.
• Type of medicine used in case of emergency.
• It makes it easier to inhale a medication from a puffer.
• The colour of your preventer inhaler
• How often you should use your reliever puffer each day.
• You should always have this inhaler with you.
• The inhaler that works slowly.

Taking Inhalers

• How long you hold your breath after each puff.
• What you do after using the preventer inhaler.
• The first step when taking an inhaler.
• How long you wait between puffs.
• The step right before you breathe your medicine in.

Asthma Zones

• I feel good, I’m not coughing.
• What I do if I am in the “red zone”.
• I’m waking up at night coughing.
• I’m starting to get a cold.
• The most important zone and why.
• My lips and nails are blue.
• My reliever medicine doesn’t help.
• I have to stop playing because it’s hard to breathe.
• I’m short of breath when walking.
• I can’t do gym because I’m coughing.