What we do
Pulmonary Rehabilitation is an exercise and education programme for people with Respiratory conditions. It is a twice a week programme for 6 weeks which involves tailored exercises to help with breathlessness management and education for better understanding and managing their condition and symptoms.
Pulmonary Rehabilitation has been extensively researched worldwide and evidence shows that it can:
- Increase your knowledge of the benefits of exercise and improve exercise tolerance in enabling you to walk further and feel less breathless.
- Help you to recognise and cope with chest infections/flare-ups.
- Improve your understanding and technique of taking Respiratory medications/ inhalers.
- Improve your understanding of your condition, your confidence and your ability to cope.
We are currently offering two different Pulmonary Rehabilitation courses to suit your individual needs at two different hospital sites
- Face-to-face classes based at Leamington Spa and Stratford Hospitals
- A home-based programme involving independent exercise with regular phone calls from a member of staff to support you.
- Exercise: you will be asked to exercise three times a week, using an exercise regime that has been assessed as safe for you.
- Face-to-face classes: You may do two of these sessions in a supervised group class, and be expected to complete one session independently at home.
- Home-based programme: You will be expected to complete all the sessions at home independently with regular telephone support from a member of the team.
- Education: We have 12 sessions of face to face education after the exercise classes for the group exercise programme held at hospital sites covering topics like importance of exercises, breathlessness, airway clearance, eating well, Lung medications, anxiety/ stress management, self-management, smoking cessation, energy conservation and benefits.
If you are completing a Home based programme, you will be asked to watch online videos on a range of topics such as:
- Eating well with a chest condition
- Medications used to treat chest conditions
- Airway clearance techniques
- How to manage breathlessness
- Exercising with a chest condition
You must be referred by a health care professional, please speak to your GP, respiratory nurse or physiotherapist if you would like to be referred. Prior to the course your general health and physical wellbeing will be assessed by a Specialist Respiratory Physiotherapist to ensure the course is appropriate for your needs.
If you are already on the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme and have been advised to watch our education videos please click on the following links.
*Our education videos are narrated so please ensure you have your sound on.*
Telephone 01926 600 818 (option 5) – leave a message for a member of the team and we can get back to you.