PrimaryBreathe is a 5-year research programme funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research.
The research is aiming to increase the support available for people living with chronic breathlessness and for their family carers.
We are developing and testing a treatment that does not involve additional medicines. It can be accessed through local GP surgeries (primary care).
Many people with long-term conditions, like COPD or heart failure, live with chronic breathlessness. It can persist even when the condition is being treated as well as possible.
Being short of breath can be distressing and disabling. People may feel frightened, and family carers can feel this, too. Breathless people frequently contact their doctors’ surgery or call an ambulance.
One in ten adults suffer with chronic breathlessness.
PrimaryBreathe is a five year programme adapting expert knowledge that is only available in a few specialist centres. The aim is for that expertise to be accessible in all primary care settings across the country.
40 GP practices and 600 patients will test the new primary care treatment.
This will be the first time anyone has tried to make breathlessness support available to every person who needs it.
A range of organisations from across the UK are supporting the research of PrimaryBreathe.
