Improving Access to Pulmonary Rehabilitation
UHN’s West Park Healthcare Centre and Lung Health Foundation have partnered to launch an exciting new online initiative that will help both patients and healthcare providers find pulmonary rehabilitation programs close to home.
The Canadian Pulmonary Rehabilitation Portal is an easily navigable, open access directory of pulmonary rehabilitation programs across Canada.
The initiative can trace its roots to a research study, led by Lee Verweel, West Park’s Manager of Research and Innovation, that looked at the rise of virtual pulmonary rehabilitation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In discussing the results of this study it became clear to Dr. Roger Goldstein, Head of Respiratory Medicine at West Park, that there was an opportunity to enhance access to pulmonary rehabilitation across the country by creating a comprehensive database of programs (in person, out-patient and virtual) for physicians, as well as people with chronic respiratory conditions, to know where to access care. A small West Park team quickly volunteered to develop the project.
West Park Foundation helped bring together the West Park Respiratory and Lung Health Foundation teams to leverage the study’s database of programs to be accessible, searchable by postal code and relevant to the public. Program details, including how to refer and access, are available.
“We are delighted to support the development of this unique online tool that will help more people with lung disease access the care they need,” says Doug Earle, CEO of West Park Foundation.
A generous gift from TD Bank group is supporting translation of the portal.
The portal can be found at canadianpulmonaryrehab.com.
