Our philosophy

Do you believe that it is possible for anyone with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to live a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle?

We certainly do. However, in order to achieve that, people affected by COPD (with the support of their families) may have to change their ways to do things by learning new strategies and skills. Some of these changes may be minor. Others, such as quitting smoking, taking medication as prescribed and exercising regularly will require more motivation and engagement from your part. However, by integrating new healthy behaviors and skills, people with COPD will have a better chance of living well with their disease.

The Living Well with COPD program is designed to help physicians and healthcare professionals to develop a partnership with their patients that will promote and facilitate the self-management of their disease. For people with a chronic disease, self-management is a treatment goal in itself, and not just a treatment option.

Goal

To develop a partnership between patients and healthcare professionals to facilitate the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors and the skills needed to better manage COPD on a day-to-day basis.

Objectives

To help people affected by COPD to implement a plan of action:

• To optimize their quality of life
• To maximize their level of autonomy
• To keep their health condition stable for as long as possible
• To prevent and manage early any worsening of the disease
• To help caregivers support their loved ones in the behavior change process