In brief

A team from NHS Ayrshire and Arran has been involved in a project to improve the self management support available to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This project is part of our Co-creating Health programme.

It is estimated that over two thirds of all healthcare resources in the UK are spent treating people with long term conditions such as COPD. And the population in Ayrshire and Arran has above average prevalence of respiratory conditions, which account for a large percentage of local emergency hospital admissions.

COPD – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – is a name used to describe a number of illnesses where people have difficulty breathing because of damage to their lungs. COPD is a lifelong condition which cannot be cured, but there are a number of ways to slow its progression and relieve the symptoms. Medical changes can be very beneficial but lifestyle changes, such as stopping smoking, keeping fit and eating a balanced diet are also very important.

As lifestyle issues are so important, self management can be critical for people coping with COPD. It gives control to the patient and helps them to build the necessary skills, knowledge and confidence to be able to manage their own care.

Research has shown that supporting people with COPD to self manage their condition and act quickly when symptoms suddenly worsen improves their quality of life. It also has the potential to relieve the burden on NHS services, particularly by reducing emergency admissions to hospital.

The team are delivering the three key elements of the Co-creating Health programme to embed a self management approach at all points in the care pathway for people with COPD. Taking a whole system approach to improvement, the project delivers development programmes aimed at clinicians and service users. It also tested changes to how services are delivered in order to support self management across the trust.

The project has been running since September 2007 and has already made significant progress. Now in phase two, the team aim to continue to spread skills and knowledge about self management support, while also focusing on creating a sustainable approach that can be extended to other long term conditions.