Abstract
This article provides an overview of outstanding sessions that were (co)organised by the Allied Respiratory Professionals Assembly during the European Respiratory Society International Congress 2020, which this year assumed a virtual format. The content of the sessions was mainly targeted at allied respiratory professionals, including respiratory function technologists and scientists, physiotherapists, and nurses. Short take-home messages related to spirometry and exercise testing are provided, highlighting the importance of quality control. The need for quality improvement in sleep interventions is underlined as it may enhance patient outcomes and the working capacity of healthcare services. The promising role of digital health in chronic disease management is discussed, with emphasis on the value of end-user participation in the development of these technologies. Evidence on the effectiveness of airway clearance techniques in chronic respiratory conditions is provided along with the rationale for its use and challenges to be addressed in future research. The importance of assessing, preventing and reversing frailty in respiratory patients is discussed, with a clear focus on exercise-based interventions. Research on the impact of disease-specific fear and anxiety on patient outcomes draws attention to the need for early assessment and intervention. Finally, advances in nursing care related to treatment adherence, self-management and patients’ perspectives in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are provided, highlighting the need for patient engagement and shared decision making. This highlights article provides readers with valuable insight into the latest scientific data and emerging areas affecting clinical practice of allied respiratory professionals.
Abstract
This article provides an overview of outstanding sessions that were (co)organised by @ERS_Assembly9 during #ERSCongress 2020 Virtual https://bit.ly/2IwZNEI
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: E. Smith has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: M. Thomas gave one of the oral presentations highlighted in this article.
Conflict of interest: E. Calik-Kutukcu has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: I. Torres-Sánchez has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: M. Granados-Santiago has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J.C. Quijano-Campos has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: K. Sylvester has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: C. Burtin has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: A. Sajnic has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J. De Brandt has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: J. Cruz has nothing to disclose.
Support statement: J. De Brandt is funded by the Flemish government. The research of FWO Aspirant J. De Brandt is sponsored by FWO grant number 11B4718N. J. Cruz acknowledges the support of the Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare) of the Polytechnic of Leiria, funded by Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (UIDB/05704/2020 and UIDP/05704/2020).
- Received October 30, 2020.
- Accepted November 6, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2021
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.