Psychosocial Dimensions of COPD for the Patient and Family

Trapped in my lungs and fighting a losing battle. A phenomenological study of patients living with chronic obstructive and pulmonary disease

“…Breathing is often worse in the mornings, coinciding with the need to clear sputum and the need to attend to morning rituals. This temporal dimension has also been stressed in a review on qualitative research literature on the experience of COPD for the patient and family . Despite the experience of ‘no respite’ and ‘fighting a losing battle’, the people in our study experience a sense of future and a meaningful purpose in life.…”

“…People of this age in general turn more inward. Nevertheless, depression and anxiety are common in people with COPD . Further research should focus on a deeper understanding of spatial and interpersonal suffering in COPD.…”

“…Another line of research is aimed at increasing the understanding of how damage occurs in the lungs to identify targets for new treatments that can stop the disease in its tracks . Qualitative studies on COPD patients show that the disease has detrimental effects on patients’ daily lives and causes disability . Breathlessness is usually identified as the most troublesome symptom leading to panic and fear .…”

Caring for relatives with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: how does the disease severity impact on family carers?

“…The results are not surprising, since as the disease progresses, the workload and responsibilities also tend to increase (e.g., monitoring breathlessness, medications, long-term oxygen therapy, helping with personal care), reducing carers' ability to engage in social activities (Boyle, 2009;Gullick, 2012;Simpson et al, 2010). Moreover, the hours spent per week in care-giving tasks were a significant predictor of the carers' subjective burden.…”

“…Such findings underline the importance to support carers with physical care, symptom control and useful information about the disease prognosis, earlier in the disease trajectory. Carers' needs are generally unmet by the health and social care services (Bergs, 2002;Currow et al, 2008;Gullick, 2012;Simpson et al, 2010). Thus, raising community awareness for the availability of respite services is fundamental to prevent fatigue, preserve personal freedom and enable self-care (Simpson et al, 2010).…”