Pulmonary Rehabilitation
Even the smallest task can seem overwhelming when you have chronic lung disease. Chronic lung disease takes charge of your life by limiting your ability to breathe. Understanding how to control this disease empowers you to decrease your shortness of breath and live a better life. It has been said that the air we breathe is like freedom: we take it for granted until we are deprived of it.
Shannon's pulmonary rehabilitation program helps patients improve their quality of life through exercise, education and emotional support. In addition, it is the only program of its kind in the area that has a licensed asthma educator on staff. This program lasts eight weeks, meeting three times a week for one hour of exercise and one hour of lecture.
Who Benefits
Persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can benefit from this program. Even patients with severe disease will benefit.COPD includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma. COPD can lead to a loss of motivation to perform everyday activities such as walking, shopping, getting dressed, visiting friends, going to church or enjoying a hobby.
Education
Key to the program is helping patients and families understand the diseases and what can be done to help the patient. Through our educational program, a patient can become less dependent on others. Understanding the changes COPD causes often makes it easier to cope and live with the disease.
Medical care, technology and medication are fundamental to treating chronic lung disease, but these alone cannot fulfill all the needs of patients as they learn to cope with the disease. In pulmonary rehabilitation, all medical aspects of a patient's care are integrated with the aspects of daily living, such as exercise capacity, stress management and nutrition. Our program makes a team of healthcare professionals available to address each of these areas.
Exercise
A gradual and comfortable progression of exercise will be designed to help each patient reach his or her highest potential. The exercise training includes breathing exercises, walking and utilizing exercise equipment in a supervised setting. We advise patients to be mindful of their bodies and to increase excercise gradually to rebuild stamina and strength.
Emotional Support
To maintain good psychological health, it is essential to maintain a positive attitude toward living. People living with COPD must also know the facts of their condition and set realistic expectations. The focus of our program is to restore and promote better lung health. While achieving that goal, we hope to afford our patients greater abilities and increased self-assurance. Obviously these goals cannot be achieved without a commitment from both patient and staff. We emphasize the need for patients to take an active role in the rehabilitation plan, not only to make decisions about their lung health, but also to increase their pride and self-esteem throughout the program and upon completion.
Financial Information
Our program is clinically driven. We have a medical director and ongoing physician interaction. Most third-party payers, including Medicare, will pay for our pulmonary rehabilitation program. For questions about the financial aspects, please call the Shannon business office at 325.747.5242.
Accreditation
The Shannon pulmonary rehabilitation program received a three-year certification by the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation (AACVPR). The certification recognizes Shannon pulmonary rehabilitation's commitment to improving the quality of life by enhancing standards of care.
