November is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Awareness month and family physicians play an important role in the diagnosis and management of COPD. With early diagnosis and treatment, people with COPD can improve their quality of life and breathe better.
Helpful resources for patients, caregivers, and members of the healthcare community can be found on the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) website. Physicians and their care teams can even order a COPD Health Care Provider Toolkit to help patients and their families learn the signs and symptoms of COPD and to help start the conversation.
Family physicians have the added challenge of navigating the standard of care for patients who are diagnosed with COPD and have COVID-19. Not any easy task, but to help provide support, a quick access guide of recommendations is available from the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; the Global Initiative for Asthma; and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology as well as links to COVID resources from other organizations.
The quick access guide is provided by AstraZeneca Medical Information. Check out the video that was especially designed for physicians and their care teams to better understand the burden and impact of COPD exacerbations.
AstraZeneca is a proud Partner in Health of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. Partners in Health is an online resource that contains links to organizations that provide patient education and high-value tools to support family physicians and their care teams deliver optimal front line care.