An individualised self-management plan is equally vital in better  control of compulsory obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in addition to standard treatment protocols, suggests a review. 

A recent study conducted by a team of medical scientists from leading pharmaceutical and healthcare institutions in the UK found that self-management interventions can play a valuable role in supporting people with COPD to respond to changing symptoms, thereby making appropriate decisions regarding the management of their own chronic condition.

The review suggested that better education of healthcare professionals, identification of skill gaps and sharing of healthcare resources are necessary to improve access to patient-centered self-management. In addition, the review observed that as chronic respiratory diseases predictably become increasingly common, demand for programs that will enable and empower patients to assume more responsibility for their care management will only rise. Undesirable physical and emotional symptoms and impaired physical functioning can directly prevent patients from carrying out normal daily activities, including the ability to successfully self-manage. As a result, self-management of chronic conditions like COPD should be applied not only from the clinical perspective, but also the patient perspective, with a focus on humanistic outcomes that matter to the patient on an individual basis, the review concluded.