Dr. Noah Greenspan, DPT, a cardiopulmonary physical therapist, announced the establishment of the Pulmonary Wellness Foundation. The mission of the nonprofit organization is to serve as the world’s most comprehensive and advanced pulmonary wellness hub and community for people living with respiratory diseases as well as their caregivers and loved ones.
Respiratory illnesses, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis (PF) and pulmonary hypertension (PH), affect millions of people across all ages and ethnicities.
“An educated patient is our greatest ally in the fight against respiratory disease,” Dr. Greenspan said. “Lack of information and understanding on the part of patients, their family members and caregivers, and even their clinicians, can pose one of the greatest obstacles to patients’ ability to thrive and to truly achieve their maximum levels of health, wellness and quality of life.”
Broadly, the foundation’s objectives include combining the highest quality clinical care with excellence in education free of charge to patients, family members, caregivers and clinicians while also supporting new research projects aimed at better understanding the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation and lifestyle change in people living with pulmonary diseases.
“The Pulmonary Wellness Foundation will provide a much-needed forum for people living with respiratory disease and their loved ones to come together as a community and feel at home: safe, respected, understood and cared for, regardless of age, geographical location, and socioeconomic or medical status,” said Dr. Marcella Debidda, PhD, the foundation’s Chief Patient Officer.
Additionally, starting January 1, 2020, foundation members will have free access to Pulmonary Wellness Boot Camp, a 42-day Online Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program designed to help anyone living with respiratory disease either as an adjunct or an alternative to traditional pulmonary rehabilitation programs.
“Despite the severity of their respiratory diseases, patients today face countless challenges to care, including: health inequality and disparities in care access; standardized treatment protocols that often ignore individuals’ needs; and limited time for doctors to truly educate their patients. By making education and care accessible to all, free of charge, we are paving a new path for healthcare,” Dr. Debidda added.
Dr. Greenspan added, “Supporting the foundation’s efforts will enable us to continue to positively impact the lives of people with prevalent, rare, and ultra-rare pulmonary diseases worldwide.” These include asthma, COPD, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, alpha-one anti-trypsin deficiency, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), PF and other interstitial lung diseases (ILD’s); non-tuberculosis mycobacterium (NTM), sarcoidosis, scleroderma and other connective tissue diseases, pulmonary hypertension (PH), heart failure and other cardiopulmonary conditions.
