Rehabilitation in lung diseases : 'education' component of pulmonary rehabilitation

Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is a complex intervention with described core components of individualized exercise training and inter-disciplinary education in international guidelines. Compared to the overwhelming evidence of benefit for exercise training, the education component has received little attention. Educating patients about their symptoms and disease management appears intuitive to improve their health, but how and when is less clear. PR has provided an opportunity for educational activities and traditionally this has been delivered in the form of didactic lectures. The field is evolving and challenges are apparent raising important questions. What is the purpose and outcomes of the education component? Do specific diseases require specific education or PR programmes? How to provide interdisciplinary education? Is the timing optimal within the disease trajectory (most patients are referred to PR with moderate to severe disease)? Can technology help? Our review explores the recent evidence for the 'education' component of PR synthesizing the global guidelines. We discuss the challenges for patients as learners, healthcare professionals as educators and propose future directions for this core component of PR.