Abstract

COPD is a progressive, chronic disease affecting over 900,000 people in the UK alone. Interventions aimed at reducing symptoms and improving well-being entail encouraging patients to stop smoking and to engage in regular exercise. The role that the family (or other co-residents) may play in supporting patients in these endeavors and the nature of both patients’ and family members’ beliefs about the illness and health promotion behaviours are seldom or minimally addressed in the literature. The focus of this qualitative research is to examine patients and family members’ understanding of the causation, progression and prevention of COPD and to explore how these beliefs influence their health promotion behaviours (i.e. smoking cessation, exercise) in relation to COPD.

The work is exploratory, not hypothesis testing. Its purpose is to generate in-depth data and insights into patients’ and family members’ understanding of COPD and the role of health promoting behaviours as a basis for informing smoking cessation and other interventions in clinical settings. The aims of the study are to:

• uncover patients’ and family members’ understanding of the causation, progression and prevention of COPD
• assess the congruence of health beliefs and behaviours between patients and family members
• explore patients’ and family members’ perspectives of family focused interventions in COPD.
• To use 1-4 above to inform future development of public education and quit smoking interventions. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 40 patients diagnosed with COPD and 40 family members. Participants will be recruited from the North West Lung Centre South Manchester University Hospitals Trust. Interview topics for both patients and family members include: understanding of the causes and development of COPD, current and past lifestyle behaviours (e.g. smoking history, exercise, nutrition), resources used for lifestyle change and participants’ perspectives of family focused health promotion. Other data include socio-demographic variables, smoking history and disease severity (per GOLD stages). Standard analysis procedures and measures to ensure methodological rigour in qualitative research will be employed.
• describe patients’ and family members’ smoking and other lifestyle beliefs and behaviours, particularly as they relate to COPD