Persistent breathlessness despite treatment of causal disease(s) is associated with disability and a vicious cycle of avoiding physical activity-related breathlessness, deconditioning and increasing breathlessness.
Those affected participate less in the workforce, risking curtailing of children’s education to increase income, and need more healthcare.
Low-cost self-management breathlessness-targeted interventions are effective and deliverable in community-settings (e.g. breathing techniques). However, few are developed or tested for acceptability or effectiveness in India or other low-resource countries.
Working with key stakeholders (clinicians, patients, community leaders) we will review existing evidence for breathlessness intervention to develop a prototype intervention for persistent breathlessness in India.
This project will co-design a programme-theory to inform development of a flexible population health, community-based education intervention. The intervention will address breathlessness-related beliefs and behaviours e.g. physical activity, cool airflow, healthcare utilisation.