Service User Perspectives on Engagement in an Occupational Therapy-Led Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme: A Qualitative Interview Study

Introduction: Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an intervention for people with chronic respiratory conditions. There are questions about which components are important to its success, including the nature of occupational therapy involvement. The aim of this research was to explore the experiences of people who had attended an occupational therapy-led PR programme in the United Kingdom to determine the most important components.
Method: Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with service users who had experience of a community based PR programme. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using the framework analysis method with three researchers contributing to the analysis.
Findings: Nine people took part in the interviews, with a mean age of 72 years. Four themes were identified which were organised around the concepts of Doing, Being, Becoming Belonging. These were ‘Doing exercise and physical activity’, ‘being breathless’, ‘belonging as an individual within the group’ and ‘becoming a person who lives with COPD’.
Conclusion: Doing physical activity, whilst coping with being breathless and belonging as an individual within a group can positively influence experiences and perceived outcomes during and after PR. These dimensions have the potential to shape occupation-focussed PR programmes and the occupational therapy contribution in this area of practice.