News
IPCRG working globally and collaboratively
We have had, and will continue to have, a busy calendar of events, working with our partners to spread the word about the value of primary care for patients with respiratory problems. At each of these meetings IPCRG representatives have been invited to lead plenary or workshop sessions:
11–15 June 2011, EAACI Istanbul – Primary Care Session http://www.eaaci2011.com/SiteSpecific/EAACI2011/StartPage.aspx
8–11 September 2011, 17th Wonca Europe Conference, Warsaw http://www.woncaeurope2011.org/
24 September 2011, ERS Primary Care Day, Amsterdam http://www.erscongress2011.org/
25–26 October 2011, EU meeting on non-communicable disease, Warsaw
6–7 November 2011, ICC 2nd World Conference for COPD Patient Organizations, Shanghai China http://www.internationalcopd.org/Conference/Default.aspx
4–8 December 2011, World Asthma Conference Cancun http://www.worldallergy.org/wac2011/
In addition, we are working with our colleagues at European Federation of Allergy and Airway Diseases Patients Association (EFA) to promote both its COPD campaign and also a new project on allergy awareness.
Research news
The IPCRG is one of 41 partners engaged in the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative, UBIOPRED, which now has a public website hosted by the European Lung Foundation: http://www.ubiopred.european-lung-foundation.org/index.php?id = 16000 and has published its first consensus statement in Thorax Diagnosis and definition of severe refractory asthma: an international consensus statement from the Innovative Medicine Initiative (IMI) doi: 10.1136/thx. 2010.153643 November 2010. We have been active members of the Ethics and Dissemination Committees, and will continue to focus on dissemination plans with the other partners, as results are published.
The IPCRG has supported an extension of its FRESH AIR study into Uganda. The study team, involving local experts and led by Frederik van Gemert, start work in Uganda in early March. They will conduct a population-based, cross-sectional epidemiological study on the prevalence of COPD and its risk factors in resource-poor settings of a rural area of Uganda.
The E-faculty project in Romania continues to explore the value of qualitative research methods to identify the barriers and possible solutions to stop smoking support in primary care.
The IPCRG Research Needs Statement (link to PCR) is being prioritized through a Delphi exercise that aims to achieve a consensus on the top priorities in each of the five areas of asthma, allergic rhinitis, stop smoking, COPD and respiratory infections. The results will be shared at the Amsterdam meeting in May.
We are still welcoming teams to join the worldwide UNLOCK group (link to PCRJ) A prerequisite to collaboration must be the ability to contribute primary care patient data on COPD. The primary purpose of the dataset is evaluation of the burden of disease (symptoms, limitations and exacerbations), the natural history of disease, treatment and follow-up, and co-morbidities in unselected primary care populations. The next meeting of the group will be on 26 May in Amsterdam, prior to the Scientific Meeting.
Education
The IPCRG has commissioned a review of what educational interventions work to improve clinical behaviour—with the ultimate aim of improved patient outcomes? The review is including a broad range of literature because we want to understand the field of global health/international development, in addition to the nature of specific educational development interventions/projects and those specific to primary and respiratory care.
We will publish our findings, which will also inform criteria for a new education capacity building programme, IPCRG E-Quality that aims to facilitate improved knowledge and practice. The first findings will be presented at our Amsterdam meeting in May. Early themes identified include ‘social accountability’ in medical education and international development work; sustainability; clinical engagement and leadership.
2nd IPCRG Scientific Meeting Primary Care at the leading edge
Thursday 26th May (Evening)—Friday 27 May 2011, Amsterdam deadline for submission is 15 March 2011. We accept abstracts submitted to other conferences. Please refer to the online guide.
IPCRG 6th biennial conference 25–28 April 2012, Edinburgh http://www.ipcrg-pcrs2012.com
If you wish to register for our free Respiratory Abstracts Review, a new free independent abstract service providing summaries of six new respiratory care articles on a single page, which we will send by e-alert every two months; go to http://www.theipcrg.org/mail/index.php