COPD Ongoing Care
People who suffer with COPD can learn to manage their symptoms and regain control of their lives. WellStar can design a long-term treatment plan to help persons with COPD improve their quality of life.
Smoking Cessation
Quitting smoking is one of the most important and challenging steps in effective COPD management. WellStar offers Smoking Cessation programs that educate people about smoking risks, encourage behavior modification to help minimize smoking urges and offer numerous coping strategies. Several different methods for changing smoking behavior are explored so that individuals learn approaches that work best for them.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation
The Pulmonary Rehab Unit at WellStar Windy Hill Hospital helps patients with COPD and pulmonary fibrosis to build their lung capacity and quality of life in a supportive and caring environment. In addition to an exercise regimen tailored to the patient’s abilities, WellStar’s pulmonary rehabilitation programs use education, lifestyle and behavioral changes, and aggressive disease management to help reduce the incidence of sickness, disability and death from COPD.
Rehabilitation objectives for COPD include:
- Maximizing independence
- Reducing severity of symptoms
- Increasing exercise tolerance
- Reducing anxiety related to the lung condition
- Ensuring safe and swift recovery from surgical procedures
- Improving an individual’s ability to participate in day-to-day activities
Education goals include teaching patients:
- COPD basics
- How to cope with and manage COPD
- How to effectively use medications
- Lifestyle changes and exercises to improve quality of life
- How nutrition and special breathing techniques can help manage COPD symptoms and improve quality of life