The goal of your digital care journey is to:
1) Learn how to recognize a COPD attack
2) Learn what you can do to avoid a new attack and/or hospitalization
You are now in the first of three phases of your digital care journey.
1. Goal of phase 1
In this first phase, we will focus on 2 goals:
- To get your parameters and symptoms stabilized and under control after a COPD attack, i.e. decrease in wheezing and shortness of breath.
- To learn what parameters and symptoms are important to recognize as signs of a possible COPD attack, i.e. increase in breathlessness, sputum changes, etc.
2. What will happen during phase 1?
a) Regular monitoring
A care team will monitor your progression on a regular basis. You will report your symptoms and parameters via a daily questionnaire and through an activity tracker. This way your team knows how you are doing. By daily monitoring your evolution, a quick action can be taken as soon as your parameters and symptoms worsen.
The following parameters/symptoms will be surveyed in the daily questionnaire:
Objective parameters:
- Objective parameters are symptoms or signs that can be measured, usually in numbers.
- E.g.: Oxygen saturation, heart rate, respiratory rate, etc.
Subjective parameters
- Subjective parameters are symptoms or signs that cannot be measured in numbers and are usually based on how you are feeling compared to the previous days.
- E.g.: Breathlessness, coughing, etc.
Activities and medication
- Activities: Part of your recovery is slowly becoming more active again without an increase of your symptoms. Your care team will monitor your activity level and will coach you step by step to pick up your daily activities again.
- Medication: Medication is an important part of treating COPD. By monitoring your medication intake, you can also receive advice on it when needed.
The daily questionnaire is available from 4pm to 12pm via the tab ‘questions’
b) Coaching
Your care team will coach you to get your paramaters stable but you will also learn which parameters to monitor as signs indicating an exacerbation.
After a COPD flare up, patients often report to feel insecure or having doubts and questions about their recovery. Via the message function, you can communicate these questions and concerns to your team. The team will answer your questions as soon as possible (except during the weekends).
You will also have some easy exercises available that you can do at home. These exercises can be adapted to your personal evolution. Initially these exercises will be more focused on breathing and regaining your mobility. Once your parameters are stable, you will also receive some exercises for general strengthening.
Your team will check in on your progression on a regular basis. Under normal conditions, your questions will be answered within 48 hours, however, there can be exceptions such as during weekends or holidays.
In case you feel very unwell, have more difficulty than usual breathing and/or your medication does not alleviate your symptoms, contact your doctor or the emergency department. The moveUP app is not meant for emergencies.
c) Education
Via information modules you will learn about COPD, living with COPD and how to avoid new exacerbations. Some examples of information modules are:
- What is COPD?
- Anatomy of the lungs and the changes due to COPD
- Different stages of COPD
- Inhalation techniques
- Complications in COPD
You will also receive some testimonials of patients with COPD on how to live with it and how to deal with an exacerbation.
3. Going to phase 2
If you meet the following criteria you can move on to phase 2:
- Your parameters are more or less stable
- You understand which parameters to monitor as signs of a COPD attack
In phase 2 you will learn more about which actions you can take to prevent a COPD attack and what you can do when you have an increase in symptoms