Choosing Your Care Team
You have many options when it comes to putting together the care team that’s right for you. It’s important to keep in mind that physicians and pulmonary experts are only one part of an effective team. A comprehensive, multidisciplinary care plan will support your physical, emotional, and practical needs and might involve a variety of capable experts, including:
- Physicians and primary care providers
- Pulmonologists
- Registered nursing staff
- Rehabilitation specialists
- Transplant team
- Dieticians
- Pharmacists
- Psychologists and psychiatrists
- Respiratory, physical, and emotional therapists
- Support groups
- Social workers
- Palliative care workers
- Friends and family
Be sure to include a qualified pulmonologist, who will serve as your ILD expert, in addition to your primary care provider. We also strongly suggest that you join an ILD support group. Meeting other people living with ILD can help you gain new perspectives, hear about new research, and find new ways to optimize your quality of life.
You have the right and the power to decide what support looks like for you and to ask for information and opinions from each team member. Whomever you choose, the entire team needs to work together to help you make the best decisions for your care. Some members might be local to you; others might connect with the rest of the team remotely, such as via webchat.
You can empower yourself
Look for Support
Know Your Rights
Make healthy choices
- Get appropriate exercise
- Eat a healthy diet
- Maintain regular healthcare appointments
- Stay away from triggers such as allergens and smoking
- Get recommended vaccinations
- Avoid tobacco use
Patients living with ILD are steadily deprived of their ability to breathe, and with that, they are deprived of everything else, including their hope for the future. The Erin Popovich Endowment ensures they’re not also deprived of the support they need to face their diagnosis with courage and strength. Here, we’ll provide the tools patients need to live a life full of the people and places they love.
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The Erin Popovich Endowment, established with the CHEST Foundation, is changing what it means to live with ILD. The CHEST Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American College of Chest Physicians.
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