Prevention and Management of COPD in Primary Care

Outline of EFPC Position Paper 2007 – version 2

October 11, 2007

Author: Tjard Schermer

Contents (draft)

1.Definition and burden of COPD

-Burden for patients and their families

-Burden for the society

-Burden for primary health care

2.Range of services that should be available from primary care for COPD

-Prevention

-Diagnostic services (spirometry and additional investigations)

-Management of stable COPD

  • Smoking cessation and reactivation/pulmonary rehabilitation
  • Pharmacotherapy
  • Regular monitoring
  • End-of-life care

-Management of acute episodes

  • Exacerbations in primary care
  • Follow-up after hospital admission for exacerbation

3.Multidisciplinary cooperation in primary care and cooperation with secondary care

4.Best and worst practices: learning lessons about primary health care for COPD across Europe

-Examples of practices/services as put forward by expert panel members

5.Access to medical care for patients with COPD

6.Responses to the increasing COPD health care needs and reducing health inequity

7.Unresolved matters in the prevention and management of COPD

-Screening and case-finding of COPD in general practice

-…… (other matters as put forward by expert panel members)

8.References

Expert panel: primary care COPD experts (participation needs to be confirmed!)

-David Bellamy (United Kingdom)

-Johan Buffels (Belgium)

-Niels Chavannes (the Netherlands)

-Bruno Franco Novalletto (Italy)

-Anders Østrem (Norway)

-Miguel Román Rodríguez (Spain)

-Antonius Schneider* (Germany)

-Chris van Weel (the Netherlands)

-Theodora Zachariadou (Cyprus)

These experts are general practitioners with a specific interest in chronic respiratory conditions. All but one (*) are active members of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG, In case a particular expert is not able or willing to participate, he or she will be asked to recommend a fellow countryman or countrywoman with a specific interest in chronic respiratory conditions to take his or her place. Dr. Françoise Barten (Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Institute for International Health), who is an expert in social determinants of health and health inequity, will be involved in the writing of specific chapters.

A 1,5 hour tele-conference session will be organised in December 2007. The panel members will be asked to prepare for this meeting by addressing a few concrete questions, which are e-mailed to them several weeks before the tele-conference. In a later stage of the process they will also be asked for their comments on a draft version of the position paper.

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