Community Connections

Community Connections

Grantee Spotlight: COPD Coalition’s Project SUCCESS

Speaking over a crowd of loud people at a health fair at Honolulu Community College, Valerie Chang can be heard asking a passerby if he is interested in testing how well his lungs work. The passerby, a man in his 40’s, is intrigued by Valerie’s offer and sits in front of a table to fill out the required questionnaire before a registered nurse comes and offers to test his lung function. It’s just another day for Valerie, the Executive Director of the COPD Coalition, one of the groups funded by the Hawaii Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund to provide tobacco cessation. Before long, the man is assessed for signs of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), tobacco use, and high blood pressure. Another person on the team, a cardiac nurse (who is a former smoker), provides tobacco cessation counseling after the man identifies himself as a smoker.

In the span of 15 minutes, Valerie and her team of a registered nurse, cardiac nurse, and pharmacy student, provide blood pressure and spirometry tests and consultations on lung health to 8 -10 people. The spirometry test allows a person to know how well their lungs work and indicate if a person may have developed COPD or other lung condition, including poorly-controlled asthma. COPD is a lung disease, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. When someone has developed COPD, the airways in the lungs have become narrow, preventing the lungs from getting enough oxygen to the rest of the body. Many people develop COPD due to smoking. The COPD Coalition’s Project SUCCESS (Spirometry-Urged Cessation through Counseling, Education and Sustained Support) provides free spirometry tests and cessation counseling statewide through Lung Testing Clinics at health fairs, drug store events, and other community-based venues statewide.

“Spirometry tests are not typically part of a routine physical”, explains Valerie. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 126,000 deaths in the US alone in 2005 due to COPD and is the 3rd leading cause of death and 2nd leading cause of disability in the US . According to the Burden of COPD in Hawaii 2010 Report, over 30,800 (3.2%) of Hawaii adults have been diagnosed with COPD. In Hawaii, COPD hospital and ER charges in 2008 alone were $55.9 million. “People are attracted to take the spirometry tests because they really want the one-on-one with a healthcare professional” explains Valerie about the services Project SUCCESS provides, “they appreciate the personal interaction we give them.”

Seeing up to 77 people in a 2-4 hour Lung Testing Clinic, Project SUCCESS has no plans of slowing down. There are 9 clinics planned between August and September (including one in Hilo and another in Puna), and a statewide day-long COPD Education Day is planned for September 10, 2011 from 9am-2pm at the Queens Conference Center (Honolulu) . The COPD Education Day is FREE and open to the public and will include guest speakers, lung function testing, inhaler and nebulizer demonstrations, smoking cessation tools, and features addresses by pulmonologist Christine Fukui, MD about COPD and its treatment and Assistant Professor and Researcher, Debra Mark, RN PhD, who will talk about COPD Treatment by Interactive Computer. “Last year's COPD Education Day had over 200 COPD patients, healthcare professionals, exhibitors, and we anticipate an even bigger turnout for this year” explains Valerie.

For more information regarding Project SUCCESS’ Lung Testing Clinics or the COPD Education Day, visit the COPD Coalition’s website or e-mail Valerie Chang at or call 808-699-9839. To view the Hawaii COPD 2010, Burden Report, download the pdf here.