Research team wins international chronic disease management award

Vancouver, BC – A team with the Pacific Lung Health Centre, part of the Providence Heart and Lung Institute at St Paul’s Hospital, was awarded one of seven awards at the 2007 International Conference on Chronic Disease Management held in Calgary earlier this month. The conference was co-hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) through its regional affiliate the Pan American Health Organization.

The winning project, led by Jane Burns, a physiotherapist and PRIISME COPD Clinic Coordinator, and a distinguished team from the St Paul’s Hospital Respiratory Division, developed a comprehensive chronic disease management program that includes hospital-based and community programs. It integrates the different steps of care for patients with chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, drug compliance and follow-up.

Currently, there are multiple health-care professionals playing key roles in helping patients with COPD manage their disease – such as providing care, suggesting lifestyle changes and prescribing medicines. But patients often experience confusion because they receive conflicting information and direction.

The program helps enable health-care professionals to deliver more integrated and coordinated care to patients with COPD and empower patients to take greater control of the management of their illness.