Campaign Update

New Partnership Program and Funding Available for Organizations Working in COPD

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's (NHLBI) COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign has expanded its partnership outreach with the announcement of an official Breathe Better Network. All organizations representing states, cities or communities who are engaged in COPD education and awareness through the campaign are now automatically recognized as partners of the Breathe Better Network.

“The initiation of this Network formalizes the NHLBI's commitment to improving COPD awareness and education through partnerships,” said Amy Pianalto, campaign project director, NHLBI. “The number of state and community-based partnering organizations has grown from 3 in 2007 to nearly 20 now. The formation of this Network—which includes all of the existing partnering organizations—is a direct response to that growth, and builds upon the great feedback and ideas we heard from partners during the March 2009 workshop.”

All Network partners have access to campaign resources and continued communication through conference calling and web-based networking opportunities. Web site offerings will change over time, allowing better access to information, and enabling greater chances to recognize the activity of those in the Network. Additional resources, such as media relations or strategic communications support, are available to Network partners at increaseing levels of activity and commitment.

In addition to the establishment of the Network, the campaign is now offering a new opportunity for community organizations to apply for funding for their COPD activities at the state and local level. The funding, which will be awarded by the NHLBI contractor Porter Novelli as subcontracts on a competitive basis, is part of an ongoing effort by the NHLBI to enhance and expand the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign. All interested organizations are encouraged to apply for these subcontracts.

The subcontracts will be awarded in three categories and at varied funding levels. The first will be for groups that wish to begin COPD activity. The second will be for groups that have already initiated some COPD activity and wish to expand their outreach. The third category will be for those groups that have already undertaken multiple efforts at increasing COPD awareness and wish to extend those efforts via additional outreach or events. Limited funding is available, and subcontracts will be awarded after a competitive review process. Details about how to qualify for funding, and about how proposals will be reviewed, are available by viewing the Request for Proposals. Click here to learn more.

The deadline for proposals is July 23, 2009.

COPD to be Addressed in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Annual Survey

One of the major challenges currently faced by the COPD community is a lack of information on prevalence of the disease. Thanks to a new partnership between the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data collection on COPD will soon be underway nationwide.

The NHLBI has made funding available to the CDC's Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Promotion for adding a series of five COPD-related questions in its Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) in all 50 states and territories beginning with the 2011 survey.

“Local data is extremely important in raising awareness and demonstrating the importance, impact and seriousness of a disease like COPD. It can give to all stakeholders an important measure around which to build programs and activities,” said James P. Kiley, Ph.D., director, NHLBI Division of Lung Diseases.

Community-based organizations can use the BRFSS data to work with their local and state governments to identify emerging health problems, establish and track health objectives and develop and evaluate public health policies and programs.

This new initiative stems from requests from the COPD community heard by the NHLBI and the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign. The BRFSS is the world's largest, on-going telephone health survey system, tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the United States yearly since 1984. Data is collected from more than 350,000 adults in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, providing the COPD community with a new invaluable avenue for its public health education communications and programming.

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COPD Coming to a Theater Near You — Summer 2009

This summer, 500 movie theaters around the country are playing a part in raising awareness of COPD. A new public service announcement, starring actress Sharon Stone and highlighting COPD, will air before the movies and will invite movie-goers to learn more about the disease by visiting educational displays in the movie theater lobbies.

The program, which was kicked off Memorial Day Weekend, is part of the annual Summer Theatrical Fundraising Campaign for the Will Rogers Institute. The Institute is one of the leading charitable foundations in the United States which supports research in asthma, tuberculosis and pulmonary diseases. This program is a partnership with the COPD Foundation and the COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign.

The lobby displays will include COPD Learn More Breathe Better® “COPD: Are You at Risk?” brochures and more information about COPD and the Will Rogers Institute.

Theaters participating in the Will Rogers program include AMC, National Amusements, Muvico, Consolidated and Regal Entertainment theater chains, among others. For more details on the campaign, and which theaters are participating, visit the Will Rogers Institute

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“Lung Health Check” Launched on WebMD

In cooperation with the COPD Foundation, WebMD recently launched “Lung Health Check,” an online educational tool. “Lung Health Check” teaches the symptoms as well as the risks of developing lung disease and suggests appropriate steps to take to prevent or manage disease. While it does not provide a diagnosis or medical advice, “Lung Health Check” will serve as a resource to many who may be searching for answers to their shortness of breath.

“Those of us already diagnosed with lung conditions like COPD understand the importance of early and complete diagnosis and the value of 'learn more breathe better,'” said COPD Foundation President John Walsh.

The application gauges the effects that a breathing problem is having on a person's life, and offers suggestions for those with respiratory symptoms as yet undiagnosed as well as those already diagnosed with a lung problem.

“Lung Health Check” was made possible by funding from the COPD Foundation. You can visit “Lung Health Check” via the COPD Foundation Web site, or at Web MD.

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