Workshops to Disseminate the Canadian Thoracic Society Guidelines for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease to Health Care Professionals in Ontario: Impact on Knowledge, Perceived Health Care Practices and Participant Satisfaction

Abstract

Workshop attendance was associated with high levels of satisfaction and important self-reported changes in clinical practice, which may reflect improved knowledge of the CTS CPG for COPD.

Does delivery of a training program for healthcare professionals increase access to pulmonary rehabilitation and improve outcomes for people with chronic lung disease in rural and remote Australia?

“…34 Published research on the impact of training programs for health professional in the management of people with COPD has generally focussed on individual participant outcomes such as confidence, knowledge and/or skills. 29,31,36,37 However the impact of health professional training programs on the actual healthcare services being delivered has not been reported.…”

“…Educational training packages/programs to upskill staff can result in increases in individual healthcare professional knowledge, confidence and skill 29,30 but whether these changes translate into an improvement in the delivery of a service such as PR is unknown. There are studies examining implementation and training relating to general COPD guidelines for management 17,29,[31][32][33][34] however there are none which specifically examine the impact of a health practitioner training program on the provision of PR. The aim of this project was to evaluate the impact of a training program for healthcare professionals (the Breathe Easy, Walk Easy program) on the delivery of pulmonary rehabilitation in rural and remote Australia.…”

Improving chronic lung disease management in rural and remote Australia: The Breathe Easy Walk Easy programme

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to specifically examine the impact of a training programme on health practitioner knowledge, confidence and ability to deliver an effective pulmonary rehabilitation in rural/remote settings. There are studies examining implementation and training relating to general COPD guidelines for management; 49–52 however, there are none which specifically examine the impact of a health practitioner training programme on the provision of pulmonary rehabilitation. This study has demonstrated that the BEWE programme increased participant confidence and knowledge and facilitated the establishment of effective pulmonary rehabilitation programmes in rural and remote health‐care settings.…”