Primary care

Primary care practitioners are fundamental to addressing today’s global health burden – this is especially true in relation to the important role they can and do play in the areas of prevention, diagnosis, patient engagement, supported self-management, treatment and palliation of people with chronic lung disease.

Access to primary healthcare continues to be dramatically varied throughout Europe, and some countries do not optimise the potential of primary care as a cost effective and highly appropriate way to address respiratory disease. Now, more than ever, there is a need for primary care systems to be developed and practitioners supported so they are equipped to deal with highly prevalent respiratory diseases.

As in previous years, we have a dedicated primary care day at this year’s Congress, with sessions designed to address the latest issues and developments in this area – allowing the primary care community to focus on and discuss the challenges they face and the solutions moving forward.

Professor Hilary Pinnock, Chair of the ERS General Practice and Primary Care group notes: “The dedicated sessions and educational opportunities offered at this year’s Congress in Milan will address how to optimise the management of people with long-term respiratory disease from the primary care perspective – inclusive of the role of general practitioners, nurses and other allied healthcare professionals that make up our network. Additionally, and importantly, the programme also gives a voice to patients as part of the Patient Forum.”

Join the ERS General Practice and Primary Care group on myERS.

Below is a list of sessions at this year's Congress of particular interest to primary care professionals. Alternatively, you can browse the full programme to see all sessions on offer, including abstract sessions.

Note: Educational sessions (postgraduate courses, skills workshops, challenging clinical cases, professional development workshops and meet the expert sessions) can be attended at an additional cost to the standard registration fee.

Date Time Session Session type
09.09.2017 09:30-11:15 Primary Care programme 2017 (part I) Session
09.09.2017 09:30-13:00 Bronchiectasis Postgraduate course
09.09.2017 11:30-13:00 Primary Care programme 2017 (part II) Session
10.09.2017 08:30-10:30 Tobacco Control in Europe: research and policy Symposium
10.09.2017 10:45-12:45 COPD and comorbid cardiovascular diseases Symposium
10.09.2017 10:45-12:45 Translating "evidence-based behaviour change" and "e-health" interventions into practice: what works in smoking cessation and smoking prevention? Symposium
10.09.2017 12:50-14:40 Primary care diagnosis, assessment and management of COPD Thematic poster
10.09.2017 12:50-14:40 Primary care pulmonary rehabilitation, multimorbidity and organisation of care Thematic poster
10.09.2017 14:30-16:50 Motivational interviewing for smoking cessation Professional development workshop
10.09.2017 14:45-16:45 Primary care diagnosis, assessment and management of COPD Poster discussion
10.09.2017 14:45-16:45 Digital health: transforming the respiratory landscape Symposium
11.09.2017 10:45-12:45 Occupational and Environmental Lung Disease Grand round
11.09.2017 10:45-12:45 Mission impossible? Implementing a whole package of new reference values for lung function Symposium
11.09.2017 13:00-14:30 How to train the next generation Lunchtime session
11.09.2017 13:00-14:30 Update on community-acquired pneumonia Meet the expert
11.09.2017 13:00-14:00 Heart failure-COPD overlap and cardiovascular responses to exercise: a cardiologist's perspective Meet the expert
11.09.2017 14:45-16:45 Primary care management of asthma and COPD Oral presentation
11.09.2017 14:45-16:45 Clinical impact of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) disease Symposium
12.09.2017 10:45-12:45 Respiratory manifestations of gastrointestinal diseases Symposium
12.09.2017 12:50-14:40 Primary care management of respiratory symptoms, allergy, inhalers and adherence Thematic poster
12.09.2017 12:50-14:40 Primary care management of asthma, and self-management of respiratory disease Thematic poster
12.09.2017 13:00-14:00 Bedside diaphragm ultrasound in acute or chronic respiratory failure Meet the expert
13.09.2017 10:45-12:45 Malignant pleural effusion management in 2017: a review of recent RCTs Symposium