Raised illness mastering – a phenomenological hermeneutic study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients’ experiences while participating in a long-term telerehabilitation programme

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate COPD patients’ experience on the mastering of their illness during participation in a long-term interprofessional and cross-sectoral telerehabilitation programme called  > C☺PD-Life≫.

Materials and methods

A phenomenological-hermeneutic study design with combined participant observations and individual interviews formed a continuous data generation among fifteen patients while they participated in the programme. Data underwent a three-levelled interpretation inspired by the theory of the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur.

Results

During participation in  > C☺PD-Life≫ patients experienced an improvement in how to master their living with COPD. They felt invigorated by an interprofessional rehabilitation team to raise how to deal with physical, mental, social and relational challenges. Programme participation was experienced as surprisingly easy by the patients.

Conclusions

The telerehabilitation solution  > C☺PD-Life≫ provides benefits for COPD patients who report improved illness-mastering, attendance and outcome of rehabilitation, as well as enhanced physical and social activity. As an assistive technology intervention,  > C☺PD-Life≫ appears to be a valuable addition to existing rehabilitation programmes. However, more knowledge is required to further understand the full-range capacity and impact of tele-based pulmonary rehabilitation.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• New models of rehabilitation to patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is imperative for the development of more suitable health care support to these patients.

•  > C☺PD-Life≫ is a twenty-six-long telerehabilitation intervention program for COPD patients, delivered by an interdisciplinary team collaborating between hospital and the municipality health care service.

• This paper aims to explore COPD patients' experiences on the mastering of their illness while participating in  > C☺PD-Life≫.

• Patients report improved illness-mastering, attendance, and outcome of rehabilitation, as well as enhanced physical and social activity by participating in the program.

• As an assistive technology solution,  > C☺PD-Life≫ is shown to provide the potential to expand equally assessable support in improving independence, functioning, and well-being to COPD patients.

Keywords:

• Telerehabilitation
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• living with chronical illness
• patients’ experience
• participant observations
• interviews
• health behaviour

Acknowledgements

We owe the sincerest thank to the COPD patients who with an open mind have participated in this intervention and generously shared their pathways, experiences, and appraisal with us. Besides, we thank the head of the department of physiotherapy and occupational therapy, Lisbeth Schrøder for widely subsidizing the intervention. We appreciate the collaboration with other departments of the hospital and the department of care and exercise in Slagelse Municipality. For language revision, we thank Joergen Refshauge.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Grants from; The Research Foundation of Naestved, Slagelse and Ringsted Hospitals; The Foundation for Health Research in Region Zealand; The Fund of Development and Research by Danish Regions & Danish Health Confederation and The Foundation of Development of Clinical Practice for Danish Physiotherapists.