People’s experiences of self-managing COPD after hospital discharge
Research type
Research Study
Full title
People’s experiences of self-managing their COPD after discharge from hospital
IRAS ID
195138
Contact name
Anne Schlattl
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
London South Bank University
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 30 days
Research summary
This study will explore the experiences of people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and their ability to self-manage their condition after a stay in hospital. COPD affects around 1 million people in England and there are around 115,000 admissions to hospital a year with a worsening of this condition. It is associated with a high death rate both in hospital and within the first three months of discharge.
Self-management is promoted as part of the Expert Patient programme and in shared care models with health professionals to encourage people to lead independent lives. Self-management can be control of symptoms with medication, which people adapt to suit them, to starting antibiotics they have on standby when their condition worsens instead of waiting for medical review. However sometimes hospital care is required for additional support and treatment.
Hospitals tend to be very medically focussed and are frequently controlled environments; ward regimes and customs are normally dictated by the hospital staff, where people adjust into that environment and become passive recipients of care. This has the potential to undermine the person’s ability to self-manage once back home, as self-management is often removed from them when they are in hospital. However there may be a positive effect on self-management if the person receives specialist care from COPD nurses.
The study aims to explore the experiences of people with a known diagnosis of COPD, who are admitted to hospital for at least two days and return to their own home after discharge.
Through understanding people's experiences, it can be determined if hospital affects self-management once the person has gone home and if so what learning can be introduced into the hospital environment to improve the patients' experience and self-management once they are at home again.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0122
Date of REC Opinion
17 Mar 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion