People with common life-limiting illnesses, including lung, heart and kidney disease, and cancer, live with breathlessness every day and experience anxiety, depression and social isolation. Chronic breathlessness is a frequent reason for Emergency Department presentations leading to hospital admissions.
Growing research internationally supports the use of symptom-based care to lessen the effects of breathlessness to improve quality of life, assist families/carers in distress and potentially reduce hospital admissions. However, in Australia there are very few services that focus on the management of breathlessness.
The objective of the ACT Breathlessness Intervention Service (ABIS) was to co-design and develop a pilot of a home Breathlessness Intervention Service, tailored to the ACT.
In a worldwide first Capital Health Network, ACT’s Primary Health Network commissioned a private allied health provider to deliver ABIS. The 22-month month pilot program, delivered by Southside Physio, was comprehensively co-designed with consumers and clinicians, including University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and Southside Physio.
This primary care-based ABIS pilot provided breathlessness intervention free of charge to patients (March 2023 – December 2024). Patients suffering persistent breathlessness due to chronic disease received an initial home visit by a Physiotherapist, with 2-4 follow up visits at home or a phone follow up by a Physiotherapist. Interventions were non-pharmacological and aimed at both patient and their carer.
The pilot was funded by the Department of Health and Aged Care’s After Hours and Greater Choice for At Home Palliative Care Program.
