Pulmonary rehabilitation and the pandemic

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a treatment programme that can help you stay active if you have asthma. There are lots of different parts to PR, which include information about your lung condition and how to manage it, and exercises to help reduce how your symptoms affect your life. In our in-house GP, Dr Andy’s latest blog, he shares why people with asthma might want to start the programme and what you can expect. 

When someone is diagnosed with asthma, we place a lot of focus on the medicines that we might use to treat the symptoms or the condition itself. As GPs, we probably don’t spend enough time explaining some of the other important things that we should do to help, like self-management and giving up smoking.

One of the ways some people with asthma can manage their condition better is through pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). This is a programme of education and exercise that helps to increase people’s awareness of their lungs, their condition and their treatments. It helps people to learn to become more active with less shortness of breath.

Pulmonary rehab and the NHS

The NHS needs to get better at encouraging people to go to PR. The numbers of people offered PR, as well as those who actually attend, aren’t great. Especially when you consider that it’s proven to help people do more while living with their condition, and it improves quality of life. In short, it helps people feel better.

When my patients finish their course of PR, they tell me that they feel fitter, brighter, and less anxious, they know more about their condition and they can do more than they thought they could. My patients liked the fact they had time to ask the specialist team about their asthma, their symptoms, and their medication. They also learned more about their condition and felt more able to talk about it with friends, family, and employers. Some people also enjoyed the social aspect – meeting people with other lung conditions who could understand how it felt to live with one.

Whatever my patient’s needs were, whether wanting information about their condition, getting more active or the social aspects of PR, they usually asked to be referred back for more!

PR is run by a specialist team which may include a physio, a nurse or an occupational therapist, or a combination of these. Sessions are tailored to each person’s specific needs, so that it isn’t too hard (or too easy) for them. There are usually a few people with lung conditions on each course and it can take place anywhere. In most cases, it is held in community centres, leisure centres, GP surgeries or hospitals. Each course normally lasts around 6 – 8 weeks.

Pulmonary rehab and the pandemic

Unfortunately, because of the coronavirus pandemic, face-to-face PR courses had to stop. Some will be starting up again as restrictions lift. Luckily, our sister charity, the British Lung Foundation, has put together advice for people so they can continue PR at home. There’s also the brilliant exercise handbook, which can help you take the first steps to getting more active and feeling like you can do more. On the Asthma UK website, there are some great tips for getting active when you have asthma and staying active when you have severe asthma.

I also wrote a blog earlier this year on tips for getting active with your asthma, which you might find useful.

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