Asthma camp
Head of Asthma team
Assoc. Prof. Mirjana Turkalj, MD, PhD
The Children’s Hospital Srebrnjak has been organizing the Asthma Camp for children suffering from asthma in collaboration with the City of Zagreb Department of Health, Labor, Social Welfare and Veterans. Such asthma camps have so far been organized in Fužine, Veli Lošinj, Duga Uvala and Crikvenica.
Asthma counts among the most frequent chronic children’s diseases, registering an increase in incidence in the last years. The reasons are manifold, since athma is a multifactorial disease caused by a complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Treatment options for asthma management are also complex and they comprise education of patients and climate therapy.
The asthma camp is organized with the aim of providing children suffering from asthma with an opportunity for climate therapy, together with education through Asthma School including socialization in the company of peers sharing the same problems.
The School is organized after the end of the school term, mostly in June. During their stay at the Asthma Camp children learn more about their disease and how they can manage it more easily through play, entertainment, sports and various workshops.
Since the number of applicants is greater than the number of vacancies, our patients have a priority for applying. Eligibility criteria comprise age above 9 years, a more severe form of asthma, and not having attended the camp before. Priority is also given to children whose parents cannot financially afford to send them to the seaside.
Children are supervised by a large team of highly specialized professionals comprising pediatricians, psychologists, pedagogues, registered nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.
Asthma camp