Physiotherapy for People with Lung Disease

Physiotherapy for People with Lung Disease is organized by Dutch Institute of Allied Health Care / Nederlands Paramedisch instituut (NPi) and will be held from May 07 - 09, 2026 at Hotel de Bilderberg, Oosterbeek, Gelderland, Netherlands.

Description:
Lung diseases cause significant morbidity and premature death in the Netherlands and are a key indication for pulmonary physiotherapy. As a physiotherapist, you play a crucial role in promoting lung health, reducing symptoms, and improving the functioning of people with a wide range of respiratory conditions. Because the cause, severity, and presentation of lung diseases can vary significantly, each patient requires a well-informed, individualized approach.

In the blended course "Physiotherapy for People with Lung Disease," you'll delve into the pathology, pathophysiology, and diagnostics of the most common lung conditions, including COPD, asthma, interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, and pulmonary hypertension. You'll learn how to make physiotherapy diagnoses, explore treatment options, and tailor your treatment to the patient's clinical symptoms and limitations.

The course begins with an online module in which you will study the basic principles of respiratory mechanics, gas exchange, and lung function under normal and abnormal conditions. Pulmonologists will also share their expertise on the pathophysiology, medical diagnosis, and treatment of various lung conditions. During the plenary session, physiotherapy assessment will be the focus: you will practice clinical respiratory assessment, learn to interpret lung function and exercise tests, and translate these into a targeted treatment plan.

On the second day of the course, you'll focus on exercise physiology and training theory. You'll explore the role of systemic factors such as muscle dysfunction, reduced fitness, and inactivity, and learn how to use exercise testing, functional measurements, and clinical data to develop an appropriate exercise or rehabilitation program.

The third day focuses on case studies, also focusing on interdisciplinary collaboration.
This course is the mandatory entry point to the Lungs curriculum. Afterward, you can further specialize in respiratory physiotherapy (such as respiratory muscle training or mucus clearance) or in exercise therapy within rehabilitation and exercise programs. This allows you to determine your own learning path, tailored to your interests and work environment.

Goal
After the course, you will have insight into the examination and treatment of patients with lung disease, including interpreting exercise tests and applying and adjusting exercise therapy.

Subgoals
After the course:

• Do you know the basic principles of lung mechanics and how to measure lung mechanical aspects?
• can you interpret a pulmonary function test and apply the results in your clinical reasoning;
• can you recognize the clinical symptoms of common lung diseases (COPD, asthma, cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, pulmonary hypertension and bronchiectasis);
• Are you familiar with the physiotherapy treatment options for lung patients and do you know when to use them?
• can you perform a complete clinical respiratory physiotherapy examination;
• you have insight into how different conditions can influence each other and what consequences this has for research and treatment.
• can you interpret a maximum effort study and identify and recognize limiting factors;
• do you know why muscle function plays a crucial role in lung patients;
• can you make informed choices for tests to evaluate muscle function;
• can you set up and interpret a functional test battery;
• Do you have knowledge of different ways to evaluate physical activity (PA);
• can you translate a patient's fitness into an individual exercise program;
• do you know the difference between physical activity and physical fitness;
• Do you know for which patients different types of exercise programs are indicated?
• You can draw up and implement a treatment program based on case studies, in collaboration and taking into account different disciplines.