Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

Learners: Description

Educational lessons targeted at teaching how to overcome the burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) will include three types of learners, such as patients, family members, and the healthcare staff. The three-fold approach towards addressing this issue will result in more cohesive efforts for tackling the complications associated with COPD.

The role of the patient will be linked with self-management and implementing measures that he or she can do by him or herself to deal with the array of adverse health outcomes of COPD. The role of the family will be supporting the patient in his or her self-management as well as providing care in cases when the patient cannot. Lastly, the role of the staff in the context of elevating the burden of COPD will be associated with providing further education to the patient and his or her family members, assessing the state of the patient, and ensuring a smooth integration of treatment/intervention procedures targeted at improving the condition of the patient with COPD.Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

Educational Setting: Patient, Families, and Staff Education

Since the educational course will include three distinct types of audiences, the educational environment will also be divided into three settings: patient education, family education, and staff development. Through effective patient teaching, a health educator helps patients to develop and sustain a healthy lifestyle, active behaviors, and knowledge regarding when and how to seek medical help (Bauldoff, 2012). Without educating patients on how they can deal with the adverse effects of COPD, the treatment or intervention will not be as effective due to the lack of patient knowledge on how to maintain and promote their health by themselves.

It is also important to mention that patients with chronic diseases such as COPD will get an exclusive benefit from lessons because for them being informed about their condition and developing an effective plan, patients should be well educated. Moreover, patient education is needed for ensuring that the patient is motivated to follow the treatment plan, as it will directly affect the health outcomes. It is important to take into consideration such factors as learning readiness, patients’ learning environment, teaching methods, as well as the characteristics of the population to which the patient belongs.Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

With the increase of a number of adults with chronic illness, there is an increased need for involving family members in providing support for their care. Despite the fact that many health providers and policymakers are interested in creating a cohesive program for involving family members in the process of care, there is an insufficient number of resources available to them (Rosland, 2009).

Family education is essential for ensuring patients well being since they provide the daily setting for patient self-management by affecting daily physical activities, diet, bad habits, and even stress management. According to Rosland (2009), family members can have both positive and negative impacts on patients’ self-management, especially when it comes to diet and lifestyle, so it is crucial to educate them on how they could help patients overcome the burden of COPD.Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

Staff development is another important point when it comes to developing a lesson plan for elevating the burden of COPD. The role of the health team in dealing with the burden of COPD is associated with providing patients with care and support that their families or they personally cannot ensure. Staff development with regards to COPD management is also closely linked to procedures of diagnosis and screening, which are needed for assessing patients’ health. When designing an intervention or a treatment plan for COPD management, the staff should possess the required knowledge and skills on how they can improve patients’ functional capacity and prevent secondary complications, as well as it will enhance the quality of patients’ lives through the management of symptoms (Rosland, 2009).

Learner Assessments: Readiness, Educational and Developmental Level

When assessing learners’ progress as well as their ability to acquire new knowledge, it is important to take into account such factors as readiness to learn, developmental level, and educational level. In order to determine learner readiness, it is important first to ask him or her what they already know about COPD, how the chronic illness is managed, as well as what questions does the learner have (Speros, 2009). To assess the developmental level of the learner, it is necessary to use all resources for a better understanding of which teaching strategies will be effective and which will not.Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

For instance, a teacher may ask whether the learner has any cognitive needs that affect information processing (e.g. patients may struggle to memorize medical terminology, or family members may become anxious when they hear about the processes that occur in their relative’s body). Regarding the educational level, it can be effective for the teacher to ask the patient (family member or the staff) about their high education and specialization so it is clear how the educator should present the information (i.e. on a more advanced or intermediate level).

Purpose and Rationale: Raising Awareness of COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a growing health epidemic that unfortunately received not enough attention from healthcare providers, policymakers, the pharmaceutical industry, and government (Bauldoff, 2012). Thus, immediate action is required for recognizing the disease, which is predicted to become a major cause of disability and death.Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Essay

Patients’ health is directly affected by the level of their education and knowledge about their disease (Farahani, Mohammadi, Ahmadi, & Mohammadi 2016), so developing a lesson plan to target patients with a specific condition will have a positive impact on the success of the intervention or treatment. Because COPD is a disease that has often been overlooked and understudied, it will be an effective strategy to provide patients with knowledge and information that could enhance their self-management skills to elevate the burden of COPD. Educating family members about how they can support their relatives is another objective that the lessons will pursue because families provide a basis and support for patients’ self-management.