ABSTRACT
In the United Kingdom (UK), life expectancy is increasing and continues to improve (Buck, 2014). People are living longer with health conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Many respiratory diseases are very disabling and lead to a gradual progression of disability over many years; as a consequence, day-to-day functioning can be very challenging and quality of life is often reduced (Ng et al., 2007; Department of Health [DH], 2011). Patients often focus on feeling unwell, their inability to perform everyday activities and on the emotional consequences of the disease (British Lung Foundation, 2006). A term used to describe illhealth or disease burden is ‘disability-adjusted life years’ (DALYs) (Buck, 2014). Research has ranked respiratory and cardiac diseases as the two most disabling disorders in terms of DALYs (Aydin and Ulusahin, 2001).
