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Integrating Palliative Care Education in Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Sponsor: Aveiro University
Summary
Living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or interstitial lung disease (ILD) imposes enormous daily challenges, especially at advanced stages, not just to patients but also to informal caregivers. Their needs are not fully addressed by disease-modifying treatments. A key strategy to improve their well-being is the early integration of palliative care into routine management of COPD and ILD. Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), one of the most well-established and cost-effective interventions in chronic respiratory diseases may be a suitable venue for this approach. The main goal of this randomised controlled study is to explore the effects of palliative care education as part of PR in people with COPD or ILD and informal caregivers. The primary question to be addressed is: "Does integrating education about palliative care in PR improve knowledge on this subject?". The investigators will compare PR with palliative care education (experimental) with traditional PR (control) in people with COPD or ILD and informal caregivers. The intervention will include an education session about palliative care, a "Peer-to-peer session", a "Get-apart session" and online sessions. A mixed-methods approach will be used to evaluate the outcomes. This study will provide an evidence-based insight into personalised PR with palliative care education for people with COPD or ILD and informal caregivers.
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
58
Start Date
2023-09-01
Completion Date
2026-06
Last Updated
2024-01-30
Healthy Volunteers
No
Interventions
Pulmonary rehabilitation integrating education about palliative care
PR will include exercise training twice a week, and education and psychosocial support once per week during 12 weeks. The intervention will include an education session on palliative care, a "Peer-to-peer session", a "Get-apart session" and online sessions. The education session on palliative care will be facilitated by two specialist healthcare professionals. The main topics that will be discussed are: concept of palliative care, symptom control, disease impact, psychosocial support and planning for the future. Participants will be the primary communicators in the "Peer-to-peer session", and the dialogue will be based on their suggestions. Those who feel more reluctant to reveal private thoughts in front of their loved ones will have the opportunity to discuss their issues in a "Get-apart" environment. Individual cases will be referred to a specialist palliative care team or to any other health/social care professional according to the unmet needs identified.
Pulmonary rehabilitation
Participants will receive the same PR program as the experimental group besides the education session on palliative care, the "Peer-to-peer session", the "Get-apart session" and the online sessions (i.e. traditional pulmonary rehabilitation).
Locations (1)
University of Aveiro
Aveiro, Portugal