Message from the President
It’s our time in 2009!
We’re delighted to bring in the New Year with our new website which provides a significant increase in content, more access to resources, and easier navigation. We encourage you to explore this website at your leisure and welcome your comments and feedback.
As you all know, our website, is ever-evolving, and based on suggestions from the community, we’ve created this new format and access to expanded information. If there’s anything you’d like to learn more about or if you feel that there is anything we’re missing, please contact Ifdy Perez at . We welcome your input!
2008 provided an opportunity to build considerable momentum for awareness and community action. Some noteworthy achievements include:
- We were pleased to support the national public awareness campaign launched by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (COPD Learn More Breathe Better™) with our C.O.P.D. (Call Our Patients Direct) Information Line (1-866-316-COPD). The C.O.P.D. Information line is staffed by volunteers with COPD, and in 2008, the Information line received 3 times the number of calls received in 2007 and distributed thousands of free resources packages.
- Our Mobile Spirometry Unit (MSU), in partnership with the American Association for Respiratory Care reached out to over 1 million individuals at events in 20 states, with over 8 million media exposures, and did spirometry to over 16,000 individuals at risk or symptomatic.
- We distributed 30,000 Awareness Campaign resource kits to primary care physicians, over 17,000 to nurse practitioners and physician assistants, 4,000 caregiver kits, and co-sponsored an awareness and spirometry testing event at the Durham Bulls Baseball Game with the North Carolina COPD Taskforce.
Our community is empowered and has demonstrated its desire and capability to get involved. Over 300 individuals helped us launch the Celebrate Life’s Moments: Share Your COPD Story™ Campaign in four cities (Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Washington D.C.). In partnership with StoryCorps, we were able to conduct workshops to demonstrate how important it is to share our story about LIVING with COPD.
The most important results of this program were the realization of the impact that sharing our individual stories can have on our ability to communicate with our families, friends, and health care providers, our ability to impact someone at risk or symptomatic to get tested for COPD, and our ability to empower others with COPD to get involved and truly make a difference.
As a result of the enthusiasm generated, our videographer captured the stories of 60 individuals living with COPD sharing their challenges and triumphs. (We’ll be posting segments in our new Faces of COPD™ section of this website soon.)
Since December 2007, thousands of individuals with COPD have enrolled in our COPD Research Registry and we still need thousands more. In addition, the enrollment in the COPDGene Study has exceeded all expectations. Not only has enrollment in other clinical research studies and clinical trials increased, but we were able to make a further impact through sponsorship of two new workshops that will accelerate the research initiatives.
It’s our time in 2009 to get involved and prove beyond any doubt that as a community and as individuals with COPD, we can advocate for access to better care, development of enhanced therapies, and public awareness. As a community, we can make certain that all individuals at risk for developing COPD can get tested, as well as organize ourselves to help each other and improve the quality of life for all individuals with COPD.
The COPD Foundation is actively recruiting more volunteers for the C.O.P.D. Information Line, more COPD Advocates, increased enrollment in our COPD Research Registry and involvement in clinical research and volunteers to help support our ever-expanding programs and services. We ask each of you to consider how you can join us in this call for action. You can help and together, we can make a difference.
Call the C.O.P.D. Information Line (1-866-316-COPD) now to get involved. Tell us what your interests are, what your skills are, what your needs are, and how you think you can help.
May this New Year bring you good health and happiness.
With best regards,
John W. Walsh