WED-120 - Telephonic Chronic Lung Disease Education Significantly Improves Health Status
Wednesday, April 22, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM PST
Location: Plaza Foyer, Plaza Level
Area of Responsibility: Area II: Planning Keywords: Access to Health Care@@@Chronic Disease@@@Evaluation, Subcompetencies: 4.2.9 Implement a pilot test to refine and validate data collection instruments and procedures., 3.3.3 Modify interventions as needed to meet individual needs. Modify interventions as needed to meet individual needs. Research or Practice: Practice
Senior Director, Nationwide Lung Disease Programs American Lung Association Tigard, Oregon, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Learners will discover a strategy to reach patients living with COPD through telephonic education and support that has been shown to improve health status.
Learners will analyze evaluation results following patient program participation to tell a program success story that can increase sustainability of the project.
Learners will identify program promotion strategies that were successful and potentially replicable relating to nationwide implemention of the Lung Health Navigator program.
Brief Abstract Summary: Attendees will learn new educational strategies for connecting with rural patients living with chronic lung disease during this session covering the Learning to Live with COPD Lung Health Navigator presentation. Starting with a focus group and literature review, initial steps will outline how an idea became a grant proposal that was funded and implemented, and that evaluation of this program indicated a significant improvement in health status for those who enrolled. Evaluation of this project showed that patients went from a high to medium impact on health status following the curriculum provided.
Detailed abstract description: People living in rural communities, with lower income levels and with lower education levels are most likely to have worse chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outcomes. These individuals are also less likely to have reliable internet and healthcare access. After completing a literature review and focus group on the needs of patients living with COPD for at least ten years, the American Lung Association, utilizing an existing resource of a toll-free number to answer phone calls, launched the Lung Health Navigator program in November 2023. Since then, hundreds of patients across the country have connected by phone or zoom with a Navigator who answers their questions about their disease and walks through the newly created Learning to Live with COPD interactive workbook with them. Available in English and Spanish, free to download on Lung.org or mailed directly to their home, this 72-page colorful workbook explains not only the disease, but also available treatment and management options. The workbook content was also redesigned to be available in booklet format at a fifth grade reading level for those who would benefit from simpler explanations.
The COPD Assessment Test (CAT) measures the impact of COPD on health status. A lower score indicates less impact on health status. Analysis of the CAT scores of those enrolled in the program was completed through a third-party evaluator and demonstrated a significant improvement (t79 = 5.567, p< 0.001) between pre and post scores at a 99% confidence interval. Participants pre-CAT score was 22.13, which is high impact, and lowered to 18.29, which is medium impact, after the program concluded.
Attendees of this session will learn strategies they can apply to their area of expertise on how to reach rural patients with complex health conditions through telephonic support, as well as how to measure success to maintain sustainability.
