Abstract

Rationale: People living with respiratory diseases are likely to benefit from education and advice delivered to them as part of a Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) programme. However, there is little published research documenting ways to optimize this.
Objectives: To explore what are the educational experiences, learning requirements and preferences of people with respiratory disease attending or eligible to attend a PR programme.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 people with respiratory disease. Purposive sampling included age, gender, location and date of PR attendance (if relevant). A critical realist perspective was used for the thematic analysis.
Results: Ten people (m:5, f:5) with respiratory disease were interviewed [mean age 67.8 (6.6), 8/10 completed PR in last 2 years)]. Preliminary analysis identified four key themes:
(1) seeking information to help self - learning about their disease was important to participants, reinforcing past knowledge, learning new things which allowed them to make adaptations to their life;
(2) impact of facilitator/patient interaction - was highlighted by many as important factor and could lead to a positive or negative experiences. Participants valued person-centred interactions and preferred facilitators who were empathetic and knowledgeable;
(3) the value of the shared experience -participants valued group interactions that facilitated sharing of common experiences and learning from others;
(4) and making education accessible to all - ensuring information delivered was understandable and relevant was important to participants.
Conclusion: In this study participants with respiratory disease were motivated to educate themselves to better manage their condition. Participants highlighted person-centred approaches to education that enhanced their experience of PR. Adaptations to the education component of PR should encourage this approach by facilitating social interactions and employing a range of teaching methods to suit different learning styles. This will enable participants to better understand their disease and manage it more effectively.