Quality of Life in Pulmonary Rehabilitation: A Social Identity Based Intervention
Condition: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
MeSH terms: Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The main aim of pulmonary rehabilitation is to improve the quality of life of patients that
      have been diagnosed with chronic lung disease. The challenge for pulmonary rehabilitation is
      that many patients do not complete their agreed or prescribed training targets which may be
      related to the way pulmonary rehabilitation is delivered. There is a belief among doctors and
      other healthcare professionals delivering pulmonary rehabilitation care that patients who are
      working together as part of a group may better accomplish their agreed training targets
      (intervention). The intervention aims to encourage members of the group to interact and
      support each other during the rehabilitation sessions in order to attain agreed pulmonary
      rehabilitation goals
    

Detailed description: 
      Previous research indicates that self-management interventions vary, comprising of patient
      education, action planning, goal setting, cognitive behavioural therapy and motivational
      interviewing. The delivery of these interventions was largely conducted through individual
      sessions either face-to-face or telephone conversations, or through the individual
      distribution of booklet information. As such, research has heavily focused on
      individual-focused self-management interventions in order to facilitate QoL in COPD patients.
      It is not surprising that interventions have largely taken an individualistic approach given
      that sufferers of COPD are diagnosed and treated as individuals (e.g., in hospital, or when
      visiting the doctor). However, at times COPD management is delivered in groups (e.g.,
      exercise/ education rehabilitation sessions). Indeed, the group-management of COPD treatment
      for improving the QoL of COPD patients has largely remained unexplored. Therefore, a
      significant limitation of self-management approaches used to-date concerns the lack of
      consideration given to group-management interventions. The proposed study therefore aims to
      address this limitation by investigating the a group-based psychological intervention.

      Participants will be assigned to one of two groups: 1) the control group containing standard
      care; and 2) the intervention group containing standard care plus the intervention.
      Participants will attend weekly rehabilitation classes for 8 weeks, regardless of the
      rehabilitation group assigned. In addition, participants will complete a quality of life
      questionnaire that will ask questions about subjective feelings. The questionnaire will take
      about 20 minutes to complete. The questionnaire will be completed at the start of the 8-week
      rehabilitation programme, at the mid-point, and at the end of the rehabilitation programme.

      In the intervention arm of the study participants will take part in three focus group
      discussions. The focus group discussions will be with members of the research team and the
      rest of your rehabilitation group. The first two sessions help participants plan strategies
      in order to get the most benefit from the rehabilitation programme. The third session will
      entail some reflection regarding how well participants thought the programme had addressed
      their rehabilitation needs. Finally, all participants will complete the quality of life
      questionnaire again at 3 months after completing the 8-week rehabilitation programme by
      return stamp-addressed envelope.
    

Intervention name(s): Social Identity goal-based Intervention
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Phase 1: collaborative group discussion in order to establish what group members want to achieve by the end of their 8-week pulmonary rehabilitation programme. Phase 2: further collaborative group discussion with the emphasis on evaluating, monitoring, and providing feedback on goal attainment. Phase 3: focus group interviews with an emphasis on reviewing the goal setting process that patients have engaged with.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Crossover Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: Pulmonary