Improving utilisation of pulmonary rehabilitation v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Improving the utilisation of pulmonary rehabilitation through development of a toolkit for use by referring clinicians and enhancing the inclusivity of the pulmonary rehabilitation pathway
IRAS ID
209597
Contact name
Jonathan Fuld
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 0 days
Research summary
Approximately 1.2 million people have a diagnosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) causing breathlessness, difficulty with daily activities, frequent infections and hospitalisation. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), providing supervised exercise and advice to help control symptoms, improves quality of life and avoids hospitals admissions. Many patients do not receive PR because they do not know about it or healthcare professionals (HCPs) do not refer them. Of those referred 31% do not take up the offer. There are no well-proven solutions that increase the number of people accessing PR.
The aim of this study is to increase the number of eligible patients taking up PR through increasing referrals, increasing take-up of referrals and improving patients' experiences of the COPD pathway.We will work with patients and HCPs to improve patients’ experiences of the COPD pathway by applying a design process (inclusive design) to understand the relationship between patients ‘capabilities (vision, hearing, mobility, reach and stretch, dexterity, thinking and communication) and their ability to access PR. Recommendations will be made for pathway improvement. At the same time we will talk to patients and HCPs through surveys, interviews and meetings to gather ideas about how to make it easier for HCPs to refer patients and for patients to make an informed decision about attending PR. We will then combine our findings with published evidence about what improves referral and uptake, and work with patients and HCPs to collate this information in an online toolkit. The toolkit will define what GP practices need to do to help patients attend PR. The toolkit may include for example patient-friendly information for printing or viewing online, electronic reminders on patients’ records and simplified referral processes. We will test the toolkit in primary care to ensure it is user-friendly, practical for the NHS and has the potential to increase referral and uptake of PR.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/EE/0136
Date of REC Opinion
27 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion