COPD

COPD

by Saadia Aziz Dhedhi -
Number of replies: 2

I'm not actually sure if I have understood completely the concept of this tast.

But here is what I came up with...

Firstly, patients living with COPD can experience stigma from the visible effects such as the use of oxygen, chest wall deformities and struggling to breathe. Secondly, COPD can be seen as a ‘self-inflicted’ disease due to its connection with smoking.  Not only do these patients feel ashamed around family and those around them, but also physicians. Doctors are taught to distinguish COPD patients as either ‘pink puffers’ or ‘blue bloaters’…Is this unintentionally leading us to form negative images and humiliate patients?

The implications of this stigma force the patient to isolate themselves as their self-esteem is affected. Asking for help, attending appointments and being seen using medication and oxygen is something they feel cannot be done in public.  

There is a relationship between COPD and lower socioeconomic status, the risk of admission for COPDis higher in the lowest socio-economic group. So, could this mean COPD patients are stigmatized due to their lower status? Or could it be because COPD is associated with age because onset of the disease occurs at a later stage?

In reply to Saadia Aziz Dhedhi

Re: COPD

by Joseph Daniel Jameson -

I also think its important to recognise COPD as a disease that could almost be considered as socially contsructed.

Smoking, the cause of COPD, is a habit that i believe is socially determined. By this i mean that there are a number of culturally determined trends and factors that influence smoking habits. For example, higher rates of smoking in lower socioeconomic groups in the UK. These trends are, however, changing over time and hopefully a reflection of decreasing rates of smoking will be seen in the incidence of COPD in the future. This begs the question as to how we can stop these rates going up in developing countries which are now have what we might call 'worse' smoking habits which developed nations once had.