Indwelling Pleural Catheters: Co-Developing an Intervention to Support Self-Management (PACMAN)

A pleural effusion is a build-up of fluid around the lung. In the UK, about 250,000 people develop a pleural effusion each year. People with a pleural effusion feel breathless and can’t do the things they want to. Draining the fluid helps with this, reducing breathlessness and improving quality of life. This can be done by inserting a semi-permanent tube called an indwelling pleural catheter (IPC). This is drained at home several times a week, usually by a community nurse. However, it can be done by the patient or family/unpaid carer – this is called self-management. Self-management gives patients the freedom to drain their IPC when needed and reduces the use of community nursing services. Despite these benefits, not all patients get the opportunity to self-manage.The aim of this study is to help more patients self-manage if they want to. We will achieve this through three stages:Stage 1: We will talk to patients with IPC as well as their families/carers to find their views on self-management and what stops people who could self-manage from doing so. We know that patients with an IPC can be frail and their families/carers are often already doing a lot to support them. We will ask what might help them to self-manage.Stage 2: We will talk to healthcare professionals (HCPs) looking after patients with IPC to understand what they think about self-management. This will include community nurses and the hospital teams who put in IPCs.Stage 3: We will hold workshops with patients, their families/unpaid carers and HCPs to design an intervention that will help people to self-manage IPC. We will recruit mainly through clinical settings where IPCs are inserted (normally a hospital). The study will run for two years. Participants can take part in an interview, focus group and/or the co-design workshops.