ABIS/ BMS- What is it?
Act Breathlessness Intervention Services were a trial service that started in March 2023. It was a program that was created from similar intervention services such as Westmead Breathlessness Intervention service and the Cambridge Intervention Service. It is a holistic service designed specifically for patients, that despite optimal disease management, experience disabling breathlessness. This service is based on the Cambridge Breathlessness Intervention Service and incorporate a Breathing, Thinking and Functioning model offering advice, support and help to implement (mostly) nonpharmacological strategies to manage chronic breathlessness and to improve quality of life. The trial period has come to an end and the program has rolled over to the Breathlessness Management service offered by South Side Physio Group.
Who is it for?
This program is for any patient that experiences acute, chronic and debilitating breathlessness. According to the American Thoracic Society, breathlessness, dyspnoea and shortness of breath are all terms to describe the subjective experience of breathing discomfort that consists of qualitatively distinct sensations that vary in intensity. Almost 1 in 3 adult Australians have mild breathlessness and almost 1 in 10 adults have clinically important breathlessness. This service is designed to help treat and manage many different conditions that cause breathlessness including but not limited to: COPD, Cancer, (Post) COVID-19/Long COVID, Interstitial lung disease, Pulmonary Oedema etc.
How does it work?
Using the Breathing, Thinking and Functioning model, the service treats and manages the patient’s breathlessness through teaching breathing techniques such as rectangular breathing. It helps patients manage anxiety related to the breathlessness by introducing techniques to help calm the mind while experiencing a breathlessness episode. The physiotherapists that offer the services are highly skilled and would easily be able to identify if a referral, to a different medical professional, is needed to help manage any anxiety or mental health issues. Often breathlessness can make activities of daily living really difficult to complete. The service is designed to help you manage your housework, laundry, going shopping and most importantly, improve and maintain your mobility. The breathlessness management service is an in-clinic and mobile based service. In the clinic you will be assessed and treated by a physiotherapist. You may then will be enrolled into a pulmonary rehab class that is run by the exercise physiologist or continue independent session with your physio. Please click here to know more about the Pulmonary Rehab Classes.
References
Sunjaya, A. P., Poulos, L. M., Di Tanna, G. L., Lung, T., Marks, G. B., Reddel, H. K., & Jenkins, C. R. (2024). The health and economic burden of breathlessness, Australia, 2019: a national survey. The Medical Journal of Australia, 221(6), 324–332. https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.52425
Parshall, M. B., Schwartzstein, R. M., Adams, L., Banzett, R. B., Manning, H. L., Bourbeau, J., Calverley, P. M., Gift, A. G., Harver, A., Lareau, S. C., Mahler, D. A., Meek, P. M., & O’Donnell, D. E. (2012). An Official American Thoracic Society Statement: Update on the Mechanisms, assessment, and Management of Dyspnea. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 185(4), 435–452. https://doi.org/10.1164/rccm.201111-2042st
Syrett, E., & Taylor, J. (2003). Non-pharmacological management of breathlessness: a collaborative nurse-physiotherapist approach. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 9(4), 150–156. https://doi.org/10.12968/ijpn.2003.9.4.11499