Professor Dominic Fitzgerald is a paediatric respiratory and sleep specialist working at The Children's Hospital at Westmead in Sydney. For 15 years he has worked closely with infants and children with cystic fibrosis (CF), sharing the ups and downs of the family journey as they come to terms with caring for a child with CF. The Cystic Fibrosis Passport is designed as a practical manual for people looking after children from infants and toddlers at day-care and preschool through to primary school aged children.
Much effort comes from the multi-disciplinary CF teams who provide education on the various manifestations of CF and how to manage children with this condition. The emphasis has appropriately been on educating the immediate family. However, it became clear that many of the skills of caring for children with CF that parents have gained over time are not readily available to extended family members and others caring for children with CF.
