Educational videos aimed at healthcare professionals launched ahead of COPD month
A new set of advisory and educational healthcare videos aimed at helping healthcare professionals care with patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a condition affecting millions in the UK, has been launched by health educators The Sound Doctor.
The valuable tools to help people manage the condition have been launched ahead of November’s National COPD Month – which includes World COPD Awareness Day on November 21st, 2018.
A condition of the lungs that makes it hard to push air out due to a narrowing of the airways, COPD usually develops because of long-term damage to lungs from breathing in a harmful substance. Usually, this is cigarette smoke but could be smoke from other sources or air pollution.
An incurable disease, those with the condition are able to live well with COPD by taking the appropriate measures and it becomes more prevalent in people as they age, with most cases not diagnosed until people are in their 50’s.
“By providing patients with detailed, accessible and easily comprehendible online information, the overall management of their illness becomes more effective and efficient.” Rosie Runciman, Co-founder of The Sound Doctor
According to NICE, the National Institute for Care and Excellence guidelines, an estimated three million people in the UK have COPD but only just over one million are diagnosed. To tackle this, COPD Awareness Month aims to increase public understanding of the condition in the hopes of helping many people who have the condition but are unaware.
To aid the awareness campaign, healthcare education organisation The Sound Doctor has produced 60 films focused on preventing exacerbations, improving inhaler techniques, pulmonary rehabilitation and coping with breathlessness.
The organisation says it is keen to provide people who have COPD, and their families, with the tools they need to stay out of hospital and avoid exacerbations or flare-ups where possible.
Rosie Runciman, Co-founder of The Sound Doctor, said: “Our mission is to empower people to manage their own health conditions. So we’re especially pleased to be raising awareness of COPD during the national awareness month. By providing patients with detailed, accessible and easily comprehendible online information, the overall management of their illness becomes more effective and efficient.”
Professor Mike Morgan, Respiratory National Clinical Lead, and Vice President of the British Lung Foundation, commented: “Like many of the best uses of technology, The Sound Doctor is both simple and effective. It gives patients easy access to practical information so they can better understand and manage their own health conditions.”
Between three and five minutes long, the films are full of accessible, easily understandable information for those who are interested in learning how to maintain and improve their health and well-being.
In addition, there is practical advice on how to recognise and reduce the risk of exacerbations, how to cope with breathlessness and use an inhaler effectively, plus how to get the most out of life generally.
As well as COPD, other film libraries created by The Sound Doctor include diabetes, heart failure, back pain, dementia and weight management surgery.