Patients and Caregiver Tools

Preventing and Slowing the Progression of COPD

The following actions can help you lower your risk for developing COPD or to slow its progression and lessen its impact on your life.

See if you are in a high risk group for developing COPD in Vermont by visiting COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Quit smoking (cigarettes and little cigars) and stop use of vape products is one of the most important steps you can take. Those who smoke and vape are at great risk for COPD. The risk of COPD drops when you stop smoking. Even if you have been smoking for many years, quitting at any age has benefits and can still help prevent development of or progression of COPD. For help, visit 802Quits.org.
Avoid other exposures that irritate your lungs, including:
- Secondhand smoke
- Indoor and outdoor air pollution (wildfire smoke, fireplaces, wood stoves, ozone, particle pollution, fumes, gases, industrial dusts)
Discuss with other workers and employers easy and low-cost best practices for reducing worksite exposures. This may involve a combination of strategies to eliminate the hazard, substituting products or processes, using engineering or administrative controls (whether filtration, staff rotations, etc.), and if necessary, using personal protective equipment (PPE) if you work in occupations with dangerous exposures.

Diagnosing COPD Early

It’s important to recognize the symptoms of COPD, know your family history of COPD, and talk with your health care provider about getting screened for COPD especially if you are in a high-risk group for developing COPD and also have early warning signs and symptoms (namely a lingering cough, difficulty breathing, fast worsening symptoms). Diagnosis of COPD is usually confirmed with a spirometry (or other pulmonary function test) that measures how much air you can inhale and exhale, or chest imaging (like an X-ray or CAT Scan). An early diagnosis is important to slow progression of COPD, get started on treatment and self-management plans, and to prevent emergencies.

COPD Treatment and Care

Effective COPD management involves a combination of medications, devices, and health support actions. Your health care provider may suggest one or more treatment options.

Medications: Once diagnosed with COPD, your healthcare provider will prescribe medications to help manage the disease, slow its progression, and make it easier to breathe.
- Quick relief (or short acting) medicine works to relax your airways and help you breathe easier. This type of medication works quickly to address symptoms.
- Long-acting medicine reduces the swelling and inflammation in your airways and prevents symptoms. These medications need to be taken every day, even when you feel well and have no symptoms.

Most COPD medications come in different types of inhaler devices. A spacer or nebulizer might be prescribed to help ensure sufficient medications get to the lungs.

Supplemental Oxygen Therapy is a prescribed medication, so if this is recommended for you, be sure to use it as prescribed, even if you are feeling well.

It's important to take your medications as prescribed. Work with your provider to find the types of devices that best meet your needs and lifestyle.

Be sure you are using your medication devices properly to get the medication into your lungs.

Show your medical provider how you use your device to confirm you are using it correctly. Common issues include the timing of medication release, inhaling the medications correctly, holding your breath (with an inhaler device), monitoring the dose counter, and taking care of your device.

COPD Follow-up Care

Regularly scheduled follow-up care promotes stable COPD and reduces COPD-related emergencies. If you are at risk of an exacerbation or recently had a COPD-related emergency, follow-up care with your health care provider is important for you for up to at least six months to ensure COPD is stabilized.

Other Supportive and Advanced COPD Therapies

In addition to medications and other standard COPD treatment, your health care provider might refer you to other supportive therapies to help stabilize COPD when at risk of exacerbations and improve quality of life, as needed. As COPD progresses to later stages you may be referred for more Advanced Care. Learn more about these options on [reference specialty care page].

COPD Self-Management

Individuals with COPD who maintain self-management can help slow disease progression, reduce risk of exacerbations, deal with symptoms more effectively, and support quality of life with COPD.

Self-management is made up of efforts to:

understand COPD and its effects on your lungs
consistently take your medications and devices correctly and as prescribed, even when you feel well
avoid secondhand smoke and environmental triggers that can further damage your lungs and make your symptoms worse
follow your COPD Action Plan (and treatment plan) for daily self-management
protect yourself from lung infections by staying up to date on your vaccinations: annual flu (influenza), pneumonia (pneumococcal) vaccine, and COVID-19 vaccines.
manage other health conditions, like heart disease, asthma, diabetes, and depression.
stay physically active. Your region’s Area Agency on Aging likely offers free or discounted exercise options.
ask your provider about the potential for nutrition counseling and a fresh food prescription.
find ways to continue to do things you like to do by adapting activities to what works for you
maintain communication and connections with your COPD Care Team, including with family, supportive friends, and caregivers

Quitting smoking (cigarettes and little cigars) and stopping use of vape products is one of the most important steps you can take. Those who smoke and vape are at great risk for COPD or further damaging their lungs.

The risk of COPD drops when you stop smoking. Even if you have been smoking for many years, quitting at any age has benefits and can still help prevent development of or progression of COPD. For help, visit 802Quits.org or 1-800-QUIT-NOW.

Use a COPD Action Plan

A COPD Action Plan is a written communication tool (or self-management plan) that health care providers fill out together with a patient to be used to guide and educate patients, family members, and their caregivers on daily self-management, and steps to take with worsening symptoms to keep their COPD stable, and when to seek emergency help.

The back of the Vermont COPD Action Plan provides a space for you to identify a family member or caregiver to help you talk with your provider, and list important emergency contacts. There are also Tips that can help support your COPD self-management efforts.

Be sure to get an up-to-date COPD Action Plan with current medications and provider instructions every 12 months or at every significant adjustment in your treatment plan. Diet, smoking cessation and exercise guidance may also be included in your plan.

Interruptions in following your COPD Action Plan (or treatment plan) could lead to COPD flare-ups and costly missed workdays or emergencies. If you encounter any issues with your plan, contact your health care provider immediately.

Use Tools in “Breathe Easier – Together”

Three COPD booklets have been prepared to provide valuable information and tools for patients, their families, caregivers, and health care providers to help those impacted by COPD “Breathe Easier – Together”:

COPD – A Workbook for Vermont Patient’s Families and Caregivers

COPD – A Guide for Supportive Therapies

COPD – A Provider’s Guide

Download or request copies of any of these booklets and the COPD Action Plan by emailing: AHS - VDH COPD Program AHS.VDHCOPDProgram@vermont.gov.

COPD Caregivers

Caregiving can look different for each person. Some caregivers are family or friends, some live close by or with the person they are supporting, and some provide support from a distance. Some caregivers provide support as part of their job.

No matter how you care for someone with COPD, it’s important to ensure you have the support, information, and resources needed to carry out the many roles and tasks you take on as a caregiver.

Caregivers help with:

Medicines
Transportation
Doctor appointments
Daily needs
Giving comfort
Help call your care team when you have questions
Someone you might bring with you to appointments to help listen

Support for Caregivers

Caregivers need help too; help those who help you!

Tip: Good coordination between patients and caregivers can make things go much smoother.
- Keep a shared calendar for appointments and medications
- Use a notebook or whiteboard to track medicines and symptoms that you and your caretaker can use to stay on the same page and stick with your treatment and COPD Action Plan
- Do periodic check-in conversations to check on each other in this valuable partnership

Tips for Caregivers

Caring for someone with COPD can come with significant satisfaction and other benefits.

Caregiving can also involve hard physical work, be stressful and emotionally draining, and may include financial burdens. To continue to be an effective caregiver it is important to take care of yourself and to know your own limits. In this way, you can continue caregiving positively, avoid overextending yourself, and stay healthy.

The COPD Caregiver’s Toolkit

Connect with other caregivers Learn More Breathe Better® and Respiratory Health Association created The COPD Caregiver’s Toolkit with information, advice, and practical tools to help care for someone with COPD. Explore the toolkit’s checklists, forms, and videos to:

Find information on COPD management
Learn how to manage COPD at home
Prepare questions for the doctor
Recognize and prepare for emergencies
Find self-care tips

Other COPD Caregiver Resources

For more on how caregivers care for themselves, see:

AARP’s Home page
AARP’s Family Caregiving page and
National Institute on Aging’s page on caregiving
The Vermont Council on Aging also provides useful resources for caregivers providing care to older adults and helping individuals remain in their homes.