Patient and professional perspectives on living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The aims of this study were to explore the lived experience of people with COPD and the views of healthcare professionals involved in the care of patients with COPD. The research question asked how health providers are meeting the psychosocial needs of people with COPD. Recent literature suggests that some patients with COPD are leaving primary care consultations with unmet psychosocial needs and that healthcare providers report being unwilling to promote behaviour change as they perceive it could damage their ongoing relationships with their patients. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews carried out with nine people with COPD and ten healthcare professionals (HCPs). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and the data analysed using Attride-Stirling’s (2001) model of thematic network analysis. Examples of themes deduced from the findings of the COPD group were loss and lifespan health. Those from the HCP group included attitudes and patient care. Both groups yielded a global theme of individuality. Findings from the study suggest that COPD patients are happy with their experience of healthcare although they valued prompt, accessible care in an emergency more highly than routine review appointments. They did not indicate that their psychosocial needs were met in routine consultations although they reported that some of these needs were met during pulmonary rehabilitation. HCPs perceived that they provided good care but that there were barriers to introducing psychosocial issues into routine appointments. In a time of change in patient demographics resulting in an increased number of older people with long-term conditions, this study adds to the body of knowledge in this field by exploring the lived experience of both people with COPD and of HCPs. The global theme of individuality for each group supports the need for person-centred care in the healthcare system in order to meet individuals’ psychosocial needs. Recommendations include; increased provision of pulmonary rehabilitation courses and training for HCPs in order for them to be more aware of the psychosocial needs of patients attending routine appointments