Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): The development of a brief behavioral intervention to improve pulmonary rehabilitation uptake.
IRAS ID
348558
Contact name
Samantha Harrison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Teesside University
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 4 months, 6 days
Research summary
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, a respiratory condition, is a leading cause of disability and death worldwide. Guidelines recommend pulmonary rehabilitation; an exercise and education programme which improves patients' breathlessness, walking distance and quality of life. However only four in 10 patients complete rehabilitation. Poor attendance is significantly influenced by psychological-behavioral factors (smoking, depression) with associations to physical disability (cardiac, musculoskeletal conditions), practical barriers (transport) and deprivation.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an acceptance-based therapy used in NHS chronic back pain rehabilitation and psychological therapies, helps patients identify what is important to them and links their values to meaningful activities. ACT encourages mindfulness, self-compassion, acceptance guided by values with action. ACT is effective in improving treatment adherence in diabetes-glucose control, living with pain, breast cancer-medication adherence.
Research question: Can an ACT-enhanced pulmonary rehabilitation referral be developed for COPD patients?
Aims:
1. To understand the challenges and opportunities for behavior change in COPD.
2. To co-design an ACT-enhanced pulmonary rehabilitation referral to improve uptake of pulmonary rehabilitation.
Work-packages
1: Exploring COPD in everyday contexts: To informally spend time, observing and having conversations with 10-15 COPD patients from socially deprived communities. To understand the activities they value (spending time with grandchildren, walking the dog, cooking a meal, choir, chair yoga), to understand why they do the activity, what facilitates that what has to happened for them not to do it. Recruitment will be at University Hospital of North Tees in-patients, outpatient clinics and rehabilitation with fieldwork in the community.
2: Co-designing an ACT-enhanced pulmonary rehabilitation referral of mindfulness, self-compassion, values and meaningful action with COPD patients and Health Care Professionals from primary care, secondary care.
The North Tees and Hartlepool Trust Lay Volunteer pulmonary rehabilitation group and Breathe Easy (Darlington) will inform the resources, intervention. Dissemination includes creative arts to reach socially deprived communities.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - South Yorkshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/YH/0149
Date of REC Opinion
3 Sep 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion