Motorcycling couple visits Riverview to raise awareness about COPD

Session largely aimed at staff members

September 5, 2012 -- Deron Hamel

PETERBOROUGH, Ont. - A Sudbury couple on a motorcycle tour to raise awareness about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and how early diagnosis can greatly impact one’s quality of life stopped by Riverview Manor Aug. 31.

Brenda Cunningham and Bruce Eyre, who are both living with COPD, are covering 12 cities and more than 6,000 kilometres in 32 days as part of their Lungevity 2012 tour. Riverview Manor director of care Kaitlyn Cavanagh invited the couple to the home after the team was approached by medical provider Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the couple’s sponsors, about using Riverview Manor as a venue for the tour.

About 30 people, including residents, staff members and local media, filled the Peterborough long-term care home’s activity room to hear Cunningham and Eyre speak about COPD and its relatively high prevalence.

The couple explained that early detection is crucial in the fight against COPD, and that people can take a spirometry test to determine early if they have the disease.

Cavanagh says that given it’s prevalence — COPD affects about 4.8 per cent of women and 3.9 per cent of men, according to Statistics Canada — Riverview Manor wanted to provide people, especially staff members, with information about COPD and how to get a spirometry test for lung function.

“If you get an early diagnosis, then the management of your symptoms and your treatment is going to give you a better quality of life,” Cunningham told the audience.

Cavanagh notes that staff wellness is important to OMNI Health Care’s culture, and having Cunningham and Eyre speak to team members fits in well with the organization’s dedication to employees.

“OMNI’s mission, vision and values are certainly reflected here,” she tells the OMNIway.

COPD is largely caused by tobacco smoking but can also be genetic. Click here for more information about COPD. http://www.on.lung.ca/

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