COPD Exacerbation Awareness – Have the CHAT campaign 1st June – 31st August 2017

Lung Foundation Australia’s winter campaign, Have the CHAT, encourages people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) to stay well and out of hospital.

This is a great opportunity to remind your patients about the symptoms of an exacerbation (flare-up of symptoms), including:

• Coughing more than usual
• Harder to breathe than usual
• Any change in sputum (phlegm) colour and/or volume
• Tired more than usual (less active)

Lung Foundation Australia has developed a suite of evidence-based resources to support health professionals in timely identification and management of COPD exacerbations.

To help raise awareness amongst your patients and how to manage an exacerbation, visit Lung Foundation Australia’s website, where you can access a range of education and awareness resources.

A few fast facts:

• • COPD is the second leading cause of preventable hospitalisation in Australia.ⁱ
  • Each exacerbation does long-term damage. In people hospitalised due to COPD, the risk of death may be greater than a heart.ⁱⁱ
  • A delay of 24 hours or more in seeking treatment for an exacerbation doubles the chance of hospital admission.ⁱⁱⁱ

For further information about this campaign please visit www.lungfoundation.com.au/have-the-chat or freecall 1800 654 301.

Lung Foundation Australia’s Have the CHAT campaign is supported by AstraZeneca.

> Have the CHAT Introduction letter
> Lung Foundation Australia – Have the CHAT – Poster
> Lung Foundation Australia – Have the CHAT DL flyer

i. National Health Performance Authority 2015, Healthy Communities: Potentially preventable hospitalisations in 2013–14.
ii. Halpin D. Mortality in COPD: Inevitable or Preventable? Insights from the Cardiovascular Arena. COPD: Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease 2008. 5:3, 187–200.
iii. Chandra D, Tsai CL, Camargo CA, Jr. Acute exacerbations of COPD: delay in presentation and the risk of hospitalization. COPD 2009; 6:95-103