Through the leadership of Dr. Onuora Odoh, the Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice has received a grant through the Rural Coordination Centre of BC (RCCbc) to develop a pulmonary rehabilitation clinic in Houston. This is the first project of its kind in the Pacific Northwest and is creating a path for rural Family Physicians to provide pulmonary rehabilitation in community to prevent patients having to travel to larger, urban centres to receive services.
With an interdisciplinary team, the Houston Pulmonary Rehab Clinic provides services to patients with COPD and similar illnesses through exercise and education. Patients have two 2-hour sessions each week which include one hour of education and one hour of exercise. The team consists of a Family Physician, a Registered Nurse, a Social Worker, a Mental Health Clinician, a Dietitian and a Pharmacist. Most recently, Kinesiology students from the University of British Columbia have joined the team to assist with exercise and have created the video below to support COPD patients.
Patients will see each health care provider, twice at a minimum, over the length of the program. Patients receive general and personalized education around their health status and how to improve their health outcomes.
The Clinic has its own space and exercise equipment across the street from the Houston Health Centre, as well as it’s own spirometry equipment. The project is currently looking at building capacity for a future, larger cohort.
We would like to extend a special thanks to the RCCbc for providing the funds for this one-of-a-kind program.
Other interesting news articles related to this project include: https://www.houston-today.com/news/a-better-treatment-program-for-copd-is-now-available-in-houston/
