In partnership with the Lung Foundation Australia, IMPACCT is undertaking a research project to design an optimal Breathlessness Episode Recovery Plan to be used by people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (sometimes also called emphysema, chronic bronchitis or chronic asthma).
Breathlessness Episode Recovery Plans’ (or ‘Breathlessness Plans’ for short) are easy-to-follow guides that summarise what to do when breathlessness becomes worse using simple, non-medicated strategies to help breathing and thinking.
Breathlessness Plans may be the first step of a COPD action plan that covers medical treatment such as antibiotics or emergency care to manage a COPD exacerbation.
What we’re currently doing
During two rounds of co-design workshops, teams of people with COPD, support persons and health professionals decided on the content and design of an optimal Breathlessness Episode Recovery Plan and User Guide. A public consultation process was then undertaken to canvass views of anyone who wanted to review the Plan and Guide.
We are currently testing the feasibility and acceptability of the Plan and User Guide in three hospital sites:
- Westmead Hospital (Respiratory Services)
- Liverpool Hospital (Palliative Care Department)
- Gold Coast University Hospital (Emergency Department)
The Plan and Guide will be given to people with COPD and their support persons by healthcare teams at each site. Education and support will be provided on how to personalise the Plan to each person’s individual needs and review how well it’s working in practice.
We will interview people who use the plan and their healthcare teams to collect their ideas on how it can be further improved and better supported.
We expect this phase to run from March 2025 to the middle of 2026.
The Plan and User Guide will be refined through testing, and new versions will be made available here as follows:
User Guide
Previous project phases
For information about the project more generally, visit The BREATHE Project.