William suffers with COPD, he was diagnosed in 2006 he also suffers with Atrial Fibrillation and Peripheral Vascular Disease both diagnosed in 2014.
His Atrial Fibillation is currently under control due to medication therapy and his Peripheral Vascular disease symptoms don’t bother him hugely.
On commencing the LTC Management programme William had 7 chest infections and 5 hospital admissions in the previous 12 months.
William lives on his own and manages his COPD with support from the Totally Health, Clinical Heath Coaching programme and the local respiratory team. He is independent and likes to know about his health and how to manage his different conditions.
During the calls, chest infection triggers have been focused on due to his admissions when he commenced the programme, William now has the confidence to commence his rescue plan when he is aware of the triggers being present In the past he has waited until he had seen a GP which frequently resulted in a hospital admission. He also didn’t feel that he had the confidence to commence his medication even if he felt that he needed it without direction from healthcare professionals.
William was not really sure about how the weather affects his COPD symptoms, after exploring this with William, he is fully aware of precautions including the warm, cold and high pollen/pollution alerts that he would need to think about. As a regular hay fever sufferer he expressed that he values this information immensely.
William was not sure about the real benefits of having regular flu vaccinations, after discussing this and presenting him with the information he now has them regularly and is happy to continue to do this.
William is aware that on exertion he becomes breathless and over the time he has been working with his personal health coach, he has explored breathing techniques, inactivity cycle and ways to manage his breathlessness. Williams’s breathlessness has reduced and he now is completing exercises and walking daily. These exercises and education have allowed William to gain confidence in his capabilities and push himself to achieve more while knowing his limitations. William has expressed that he has noticed that he is able to do so much more now and is really pleased with his progress.
These changes in his behaviour have also allowed William to maintain a healthier weight which has in turn assisted with his Peripheral Vascular symptoms. Exercise has also contributed to a reduction in his symptoms.
William values the independence and information that he has gained from his Health Coach and now manages to go on holidays on his own which previously were not possible due to his COPD and the number of exacerbations previously experienced.
William has repeatedly expressed satisfaction in the service and how this has given him the confidence and support using education and information to allow him to regain and maintain his independence to the point that he now volunteers for research trials on new medication to help manage COPD.
William has expressed he appreciates and values the support he gets from the programme and how this has given him the confidence to manage his COPD and reduce his chest infections to 3 in the last 12 months and 0 hospital admissions in that time.