In 2007, Respiratory Health Association formed the Illinois COPD Coalition with more than 100 collaborators across the state of Illinois. Coalition members represent a broad group of stakeholders, including community-based agencies, public health departments, professional organizations, patients and caregivers, health care providers, home health care agencies and pharmaceutical companies.
Respiratory Health Association convened this group to create the State Plan for Addressing COPD in Illinois – a plan that outlines sustainable solutions to reduce the burden of COPD in Illinois. The State Plan for Addressing COPD in Illinois was released in 2008, making Illinois is only the second state in the U.S. at the time to have formed a coalition with a resulting state plan.
The overall purpose of the State Plan is to:
- Identify goals and specific strategies for raising COPD awareness and improving the quality of life for people with COPD
- Serve as a priority setting document that guides the development of programs and policies related to COPD
- Articulate a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach for addressing COPD in Illinois and reducing its burden
Vision
The Illinois COPD State Plan serves as a guide to reduce COPD-related morbidity and mortality as well as improves the quality of life of those living with COPD in Illinois. The plan is intended for use by policymakers, organizations, practitioners, patients, and others to make strides in improving COPD outcomes in Illinois.
The content of the State Plan is fluid, and may change over time in response to shifting and emerging needs. The Illinois COPD Coalition will continue to function as an advisory body and will meet in subsequent years to assess and revise the Illinois COPD State Plan.
Specific initiatives include:
- Increase early detection of COPD that decreases the impact of the disease upon those diagnosed, thereby improving quality of life and reducing health care expenditures.
- Educate primary health care providers to help increase diagnosis rates and provide patients with the GOLD standard of COPD care.
- Increase COPD awareness among at-risk populations and others to improve lifestyle and health care decision-making
- Improve networking of resources that increases self-management skills among those living with COPD, thereby decreasing hospitalizations and emergency room visits
- Increase surveillance, through use of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and other data collection tools, to provide specific data on the state of COPD in Illinois in order to evaluate the impact of health interventions.
Download the State Plan for Addressing COPD in Illinois PDF.
For more information, visit the COPD section of our Library.