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The National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP)

National Lung Health Education Program, Dallas, Texas; and Lexington VA Medical Center and University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, Lexington, Kentucky

Correspondence and requests for reprints should be addressed to Dennis E. Doherty, M.D., Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, University of Kentucky, 740 S. Linestone, Room K. 528, Lexington, KY 40536–0284. E-mail: dedohe0{at}email.uky.edu

The National Lung Health Education Program (NLHEP) is designed to identify and treat those in the early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (emphysema and related chronic bronchitis). The NLHEP was actually "conceived" at the 37th Aspen Lung Conference, which led to a planning conference in 1994, a comprehensive workshop in 1995 (sponsored by the NHLBI), the launch of a new initiative: "Building a National Strategy for the Prevention and Management and Research in COPD" (JAMA 1997;277:246–253), and the "birth" in 1996 of the NLHEP. The NLHEP executive committee meets semi-annually and is comprised of representatives from numerous collaborating professional, patient, and government groups. Members include the ACCP, ATS, ACP, AACVPR, AARC, ACAAI, AAPA, SIGM, NEF, NCI, NHLBI, and NIOSH. NLHEP is supportive of and complementary to the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), the U.S. COPD Coalition, and the International COPD Coalition. The NLHEP's missions are: (1) to reduce the impact of COPD and related disorders by raising awareness of these diseases by the public, primary care clinicians, healthcare agencies, and policy makers; and (2) to establish that COPD is a major health problem and that the earlier detection and treatment of COPD will improve quality of life, minimize premature deaths, and reduce the cost of this disease and its related disorders. It is known that 50% (12 to 15 million) of people with COPD are not diagnosed or treated, despite their being symptomatic. Educational materials developed by the NLHEP include: an informational brochure that established the NHLEP motto "Test Your Lungs, Know Your Numbers" and contains answers to 20 commonly asked questions by patients with COPD; the development of a user-friendly educational web site for patients and clinicians (www.nlhep.org); publication of numerous articles on COPD, COPD education, and spirometry; and a six-year national media campaign to raise public awareness of COPD. In 2000, an NLHEP spirometry subcommittee published a widely referenced consensus statement that reinforces the importance and need for earlier diagnosis and monitoring of COPD via the use of spirometry in primary care offices (Chest 2000;117:1146–1161). This report established criteria for identifying those at risk for COPD and led to a "Spirometry Review Process" that evaluates the utility and quality of commercial "office spirometers" (see Resource section of www.nlhep.org). Working with the AARC, NLHEP has developed educational materials for local and regional COPD conferences (e.g., Saturday Morning Symposia). NLHEP has sponsored COPD demonstration projects in community hospitals, awarded seed grants to support research efforts in COPD, and has made major progress to raise awareness and promote earlier detection of this disease—the first steps in controlling the increased morbidity and mortality associated with COPD.

FOOTNOTES

Conflict of Interest Statement: None of the authors has a financial relationship with a commercial entity that has an interest in the subject of this manuscript.

(Received in original form March 16, 2006; accepted in final form March 23, 2006)

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