What’s Included in Chronic Care Management for COPD?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a group of inflammatory lung diseases that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Over time, this condition causes progressive airway damage and blockage that makes it hard to breathe. You can’t cure or reverse COPD, but medication and lifestyle changes can help you manage it. 

Here, our team at Fivestar Pulmonary Associates explains how the various elements of our continuous care management approach work to control your COPD progression, lower your chances of winding up in the hospital, and help you stay active and healthy. 

A progressive, life-long lung disease 

COPD is an umbrella medical term for a group of long-term lung diseases that inflame your airways and block airflow, making it harder to breathe. In most cases, a COPD diagnosis means having chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both of these lung-damaging diseases. 

Symptoms include persistent coughing and wheezing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. 

COPD chronic care management goals 

Experts estimate that about 27 million American adults currently have COPD, but only about half (55%) have been formally diagnosed with the condition. The progressive nature of this long-term respiratory illness makes it a major cause of disability and hospitalization — as well as the sixth leading cause of mortality — in the United States. 

But receiving a COPD diagnosis doesn’t necessarily spell doom; there’s a lot you can do to control the disease and stay relatively healthy. That’s precisely what COPD chronic care management aims to do: improve your quality of life and capacity for activity while keeping you healthy and out of the hospital. 

Elements of COPD continuous care

Early intervention for COPD can go a long way in easing your symptoms and helping you control disease progression. Because uncontrolled COPD is associated with a high risk of developing comorbidities like heart disease, sleep apnea, and diabetes, a continuous care plan that considers all facets of the disease and its potential complications is a must. 

As a coordinated effort between COPD patients and specialists in respiratory care, primary care, smoking cessation, exercise, and more, chronic care management consists of several key elements: 

1. Patient education 

Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to controlling a chronic illness like COPD. That’s why our continuous care management approach begins with patient education and keeps patient education at the forefront as time goes on. 

By learning all about the respiratory process, your symptoms, and the disease you’re living with, you’re in a better position to change unhealthy behaviors and manage your self-care more successfully. These actions form the foundation of effective COPD management. 

2. Smoking cessation 

Not everyone with COPD has a history of tobacco use, but most do. Up to 90% of COPD cases are caused by smoking cigarettes. Given that smoking is also the top cause of accelerated lung disease progression, quitting is the most important step you can take if you’re a current smoker with COPD. 

Using a variety of evidence-based methods ranging from nicotine replacement therapy and prescription medication support to daily behavioral modifications and motivational strategies, smoking cessation aims to help you slow the rate of deterioration in your lungs so you can breathe more easily. 

3. Medication training 

When combined with other COPD continuous-care management strategies, inhaled medicines can deliver significant symptom improvement to help you prevent or reduce activity limitations and preserve a better quality of life. 

Taken as prescribed, COPD medications also lower your risk of spontaneous symptom exacerbations associated with unplanned hospitalizations. Given that most people don’t use their COPD inhalers properly, however, our continuous-care approach prioritizes medication training, ensuring you know exactly when and how to take your medicines. 

4. COPD action plan

Completed by our team in collaboration with you, your COPD action plan is a personalized worksheet that lists the steps you should take to manage your COPD based on how you’re feeling — whether you’re feeling well, having symptoms, or your symptoms are worsening. 

Essentially, a COPD action plan helps you become familiar with your baseline symptoms so you can recognize when your symptoms change and know what actions you should take to reduce the severity and length of the exacerbation. 

5. Pulmonary rehab

If your COPD action plan is designed to help you catch and address a symptom flare-up before it becomes severe, pulmonary rehabilitation aims to prevent exacerbations. Why? Every COPD flare-up inflicts further irreversible damage on your lungs. 

Pulmonary rehab involves individually tailored exercise training and education to help you improve your physical fitness, or exercise capacity. It also teaches you breathing strategies to prevent breathlessness during activity. This component of care increases what you’re capable of doing with the lungs you have. 

Ready to improve your quality of life?

Are you living with COPD? We can help you control the condition for a better quality of life. Call or click online to schedule a visit at your nearest Fivestar Pulmonary Associates office in Allen, McKinney, or Plano, Texas, today.