The FRESH AIR project has shown that people with COPD have difficulty accessing good advice about their condition, its causes and steps they can take to improve their health.
Local cultural contexts have been explored, and has highlighted the need for patient education in Vietnam, Uganda, Kyrgyzstan and Greece. There were significant gaps in patients’ knowledge on inhalation technique, adherence, breathing exercises and diet. Many healthcare workers lacked knowledge of COPD and could not teach patients. As effective drug treatment is often unavailable/inaccessible, patient education and self-management is fundamental and often the only way patients can improve their health.
To meet every patient’s right to be informed about their disease and how to manage it, we aimed to produce a simple, clear booklet describing the steps people with COPD may take to improve their health.