Authors (including presenting author) :
Fan SHU(1), Chan K(1), Tse YW(2), Chan PS(1), Au BKM(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Occupational Therapy Department, Tai Po Hospital
(2)Occupational Therapy Department, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital
Introduction :
There is proven effectiveness of pulmonary rehabilitation for patients with chronic lung disease in various outcomes, including health-care utilization, dyspnea, psychosocial outcome, health-related quality of life. Therapists are facing various challenges in delivering treatment to patients since the ambulatory care service is closed down twice due to COVID-19 pandemic this year. Therefore, a self-management program for patients with chronic lung disease was delivered via telecare service.
Objectives :
To describe how patients with chronic lung disease benefit from a self-management program in pulmonary rehabilitation using telecare service.
Methodology :
Four individuals (aged 56-73) with chronic lung disease, including asthma (n=2), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n=1), interstitial lung disease (n=1), participated in this case series. The participants received 45-minute treatment sessions twice per week. The treatment was delivered via HA GO app, WhatsApp, phone calls and video calls. It focused on education of energy conservation and coordinated breathing techniques in self-care, domestic care, outdoor and leisure activities, education and practice of stress management skills and Health Qigong, Baduanjin. The outcome measures were the Manchester Respiratory Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (MRADLQ) , San Diego Shortness of Breath Questionnaire (SOBQ), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) which examined their functional status, self-perceived dyspnea in ADLs, emotional distress respectively. A satisfaction survey was also conducted to collect feedbacks from the participants.
Result & Outcome :
All four participants demonstrated improvements in functional status, dyspnea and emotional well-being. All of them were satisfied with the treatment. This study suggests the feasibility of using telecare service in delivering self-management program in pulmonary rehabilitation and provides preliminary evidence of improving functional status, reducing dyspnea and emotional distress following the treatment. Larger sample size and further studies are needed to examine the effectiveness of the self-management program via telecare service.
