COPD MANAGEMENT 14and treat the disease. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) program aimed to improve and provide the most appropriate prevention and management strategies for COPD for health care professionals and to raise awareness of the disease. Prevention strategies included smoking cessation, pharmacologic therapy, and pulmonary rehabilitation. Pulmonary rehabilitation programs provided patient education and individualized exercise training to improve management and breathing problems (GOLD, p. 59). In Arizona, in order to reduce exposure to environmental and occupational risk factors, a few of their strategies included collaborating with federal and state regulatory agencies to manage the risk factors, educating …show more content…
Patients were advised to follow-up with physicians to provide additional support. Among those who received support from the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (OTH), 35% remained tobacco-free after one year (Oklahoma State Department of Health, 2013, p. 10).Research on COPD have been slow, and there were not as many findings regarding the reduction in prevalence and mortality rates or how other risk factors besides smoking may contribute to the disease. A health research program called COPDGene is one of the largest studies to investigate the genetic factors of COPD and on how the disease may be different for each individual (American Thoracic Society, n.d., p.54).The American Lung Association also suggested to increase investment in gender-specific research on COPD, such as the effectiveness of medications and including more women participants in clinical trials, and to analyze the data on any differences between men and the women (ALA, 2013b). Research is needed to analyze and explore occupational hazards, environmental exposures, the relation of genetics with COPD, and to analyze co-morbid conditions (CDC, …show more content…
The general public may have a lack of knowledge about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Initiating coordinated COPD awareness campaigns and outreach programs for the community could help achieve that goal. Public health professionals should realize that not every individual would be motivated to seek preventive or support services. In awareness campaigns or programs, program managers could invite COPD survivors to tell their stories and reveal why the disease should be prevented or be taken seriously. Diagnosis tests, such as spirometric tests, could be implemented in one of the outreach programs to help determine individuals who may not know that they are atrisk of developing the disease. Education is essential for the management of COPD and programs should provide educational material for targeted risk groups, such as brochures on the information of COPD. Utilizing mass media opportunities can increase the general public’s awareness in COPD and its risk factors and could be posted in different languages under the program or state health department’s websites. Educating COPD patients needs to be individualized because the disease varies in severity. More counseling and school-based curriculums with the use of media is encouraged when targeting the youth about smoking, and spreading awareness of COPD could reduce the prevalence and