Airway clearance techniques for Indigenous adults with Bronchiectasis

Airway clearance techniques for Indigenous adults with Bronchiectasis – supporting strong lungs for people with bronchiectasis

Background: Bronchiectasis is a chronic lung condition that can significantly affect quality of life. While national guidelines recommend physiotherapy (specifically techniques to clear secretions) as critical to daily treatment, access to physiotherapy for Indigenous persons is limited. A recently developed Australia website, ‘The Bronchiectasis Toolbox’ (www.bronchiectasis.com.au) provides resources for physiotherapists managing people with bronchiectasis. However, there is currently a lack of culturally appropriate online resources for Indigenous Health practitioners to instruct and educate adult Indigenous persons in the techniques of airway clearance therapy and their role in managing bronchiectasis.

Aims and methods: This study aims to develop and implement culturally appropriate resources for airway clearance education an evaluate the benefit of access to these resources in delivering health care for Indigenous persons with bronchiectasis. The resources will be developed in conjunction with Indigenous Health Practitioners and their patients in Northern Territory and Western Australia during face-to-face visits.

Resources will include health education information and videos of Indigenous persons demonstrating airway clearance techniques with audio overlay in the relevant local languages. These will be made available at Strong Lungs, a website that will be specifically designed for Indigenous persons with bronchiectasis and will be disseminated throughout northern Australia. Following resource provision, focus groups of Indigenous Health Practitioners and other personnel will explore their perceptions of the resources, including patient acceptance and identification of barriers and facilitators to use.

Predicted benefits: The project will provide resources which are beneficial for bronchiectasis management and are currently not available. Developing and providing these resources on a freely available website will maximise accessibility to culturally appropriate techniques not only to the sites involved in the study, but to Indigenous Health Practitioners around Australia involved in the care of Indigenous persons with bronchiectasis.