Importance of the post-program evaluation

The post-program evaluation is an essential step that unfortunately is often done poorly, or not even done at all.

It is important to properly plan and organize this step. One must also make the distinction between:

the evaluation of the patient, in other words, did the patient make progress thanks to their pulmonary rehabilitation program (personal goals, physical capacity, self-management skills, etc.);

and

the evaluation of the program as such, in other words, were the program' goals achieved (in terms of organization, cost, projected impact upon the patients who participated in the program, and this, with reference to the probative data that appears in the literature).

THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT that reveals a patient's success at the end of a pulmonary rehabilitation program is whether they achieved their own personal goals.

Following the evaluation, the results that are achieved can be used to improve certain aspects of the program, as well as to help in the follow-up by the referring physician.

The evaluation of the results concerning the patient are generally done along the following dimensions:

• the quality of life of the patient
• clinical signs (e.g.: how severe is their shortness of breath when doing their physical activities?)
• their behaviour (e.g.: have they stopped smoking? Do they make better use of their inhalators? etc.)
• the patient's satisfaction with the program (with regard to the services received)

Generally, the evaluation should be done right after the end of the program.