Pulmonary rehabilitation is an outpatient program designed for those who have been diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), restrictive lung disease, or other pulmonary diseases. These diseases often result in difficulty breathing and general deconditioning resulting in decreased endurance for important daily activities.

Participation in pulmonary rehabilitation provides the opportunity to improve performance in daily activities such as personal hygiene, light housework, and walking upstairs. Participants will find that they experience less shortness of breath as well as fewer office visits and hospitalization related to their disease.

The Staff

Pulmonary Rehabilitation uses a team approach to optimize results. Team members include:

• Pulmonary physicians certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine with sub certification in pulmonary disease
• Respiratory care practitioners
• Occupational therapists
• Social services

The Program

The 6 week outpatient program combines assessment, exercise and disease management instruction to help individuals reach their goals as they improve the quality of their lives.

The classes are held 3 times per week for the 6 weeks of the program. Each class is divided into a lecture/education component and  a  progressive exercise component. The exercises include a warm-up, range of motion, stretching, and strengthening for arms and legs. Exercise equipment including stationary bikes and treadmills are available for use.

As individuals progress through the program, they learn information that helps them manage their conditions over time including:

Understanding of anatomy and physiology of the respiratory system	Energy conservation and time management recommendation when performing activities of daily living
Disease education	Oxygen therapy
Medication instruction	Travel and vacation considerations
Breathing instruction	Support group information
Prescribed exercises	Information on other resources
Stress reduction and relaxation instruction	Maintenance group
Nutrition information	Infection control

Admission

Participation in the outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation program requires a referral from your physician and successful completion of pre-admission tests (pulmonary function test and pulmonary stress tests). Results of these tests, as well as progress reports from the program will be sent to your physician.

Pulmonary rehabilitation is Medicare approved. Most insurances are accepted. Information on fees is available upon request.

For more information, please call (401) 348-3346, from CT (800) 933-5960 ext. 3346.