I do research on pulmonary rehabilitation for people with COPD.

If you have COPD, you might benefit from pulmonary rehab – it’s a program that combines education and exercise for people with lung disease. Pulmonary rehab will not reverse lung damage caused by COPD. But research shows that it can help you improve your quality of life, and relieve shortness of breath and fatigue.

Most pulmonary rehab programs are supervised by a health professional, who specializes in lung disease. Programs vary in scope and length, but they are often held in a group setting in hospitals. In addition to exercise, pulmonary rehab programs teach you how to save energy in day-to-day tasks like dressing and shopping . Family and friends can get involved, too. Most programs include education for family, friends and caregivers. Support and encouragement from friends and family is important in helping you stick to your rehab plan. If you have COPD, ask your doctor if pulmonary rehab is right for you.

I’m working with a team of researchers who are looking at ways we can support people with COPD and their caregivers better, so that we can reduce hospital visits and help them manage their diseases better.

Living with a complex condition such as COPD can be challenging to both the person affected, as well as to their caregivers – family and friends who help with their care.

People with COPD typically have more hospital visits than any other disease, including heart failure and angina. Once people are sent home from the hospital, their day-to-day care is often left up to themselves and their caregivers.

As a nurse, I’ve seen patients who have been discharged from the hospital, who did not have enough information about their disease or support to care for themselves properly. Our health care system places a lot of demands on both patients and caregivers to manage the patient’s illness.

We want to support and educate people with COPD and their caregivers, so that their quality of life can be improved. If that happens, then that means less visits to the hospital.

Our team of researchers will talk to 42 people with COPD who have recently been discharged from the hospital and their caregivers to learn how much they know about this disease, what supports they have and where the gaps are in what they need.

There’s been very little research done that can guide health-care professionals is designing support for COPD caregivers. So our study is really for future well-being of people with COPD and their families.

Our research team members include: Dr. Darcy Marciniuk, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan; Donna Rennie, College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan; Pat Bailey, School of Nursing, Laurentian University, and Shelly Hutchinson, a graduate student in Master's of Nursing program at the University of Saskatchewan and a Canadian Respiratory Health Professionals Fellowship award-holder.

When a person comes to pulmonary rehabilitation for the first time with a diagnosis of COPD, they’re often devastated. They’re very sad because they think their life is over. But as they go through the program, you can see them change, physically as well as emotionally. They become a whole new person. Or maybe even go back to the person they were before (they became ill).

COPD is a disease of the lungs but affects the whole body, too. So that’s why we offer a program that provides both education and exercise for people with COPD.

Education is important because the patient needs to know to manage their disease. They learn about their medications and the importance of good nutrition and rest. We also provide support for dealing with social and emotional issues that come with the disease.

Exercise is important for people with COPD because they need to build up muscles. When muscles work well, they can better transport oxygen to the rest of the body. COPD patients often avoid exercise because they feel breathless and tired, even at rest.

But a lack of physical activity causes lung patients to get out of shape and feel short of breath. So our program helps breaks that cycle of fear. We work with the patient to exercise properly to see what their capacity is, how much this patient can go and can continue at that level.

Pulmonary rehabilitation touches every aspect of the life of the patient: exercise, nutrition, social issues, emotional issues and of course, smoking cessation, if the patient hasn’t stopped smoking yet.

For me, it’s been incredibly rewarding to see the difference pulmonary rehab can make in the lives of people with COPD.