LAUSR

Introduction The importance of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is well known for the management of chronic respiratory disease and is a core component of disease management. The important of increasing uptake and availability of PR is made clear within the NHS long term plan. Despite this push little is known about patient’s perspective or PR and how to engage people further to participate despite its proven benefit in health related quality of life. Method To evaluate patient perceptive and opinion of PR 4 group interviews were conducted in different PR groups in the North West of England. Patients were asked to discuss their thoughts on PR, including preconceptions of the programme, importance of PR and how to engage better with people with chronic respiratory disease. Interviews were recorded and themes were highlighted. Results 21 patients enrolled in an 8 week PR programme were interviewed for a total of 130 minutes. 10 males and 11 females were interviewed, 18 patients had a diagnosis of COPD, 2 were diagnosed with bronchiectasis and 1 was diagnosed with asthma. Thematic analysis showed patients perceived the importance of physical activity and saw gains in attending PR. Patients felt the positive impact of PR was not well delivered and that people offering a referral to PR did not know about the course. They felt PR was frequently offered too late in their disease process. There was much debate about the appropriateness of the term ‘exercise’ and ‘rehabilitation’ as they had negative connotations. Conclusion Preliminary finding suggest that patients feel PR is offered too late in there disease pathway and health professionals (HCP) need to be offering PR at every clinical point of care. HCP lack of knowledge regarding PR was discussed by many patients, suggesting the need for HCP to improve their own knowledge and understanding. Another key area of debate was the terminology used to describe PR, ‘rehabilitation’ and ‘exercise’ were felt to bring negative thoughts to mind, and did little to sell the positive impact PR can have on their lives. A more positive name would have helped to support people to attend.