The Ministry of Health invites the participation of residents and parents of children who have received care for respiratory illnesses such as Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in completing the corresponding Respiratory Illness Patient Care Surveys.
The Respiratory Illness Patient Care Surveys for Asthma and COPD will launch on Wednesday, 23 July 2025. All responses must be submitted by Friday, 22 August 2025. Each Survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete, and all feedback will remain anonymous. The individual surveys can be accessed through the following links:
As part of the implementation of the 2022 – 2027 Health Strategy and Universal Health Coverage (UHC), the Ministry is working to better understand the journey of both adults and children living with the specific respiratory illnesses of Asthma and COPD. The two surveys will be collecting perspectives from residents on experiences accessing and using health services related to these illnesses and will be used to strengthen patients’ overall care experience.
The two surveys are a part of the Ministry’s current Respiratory Illness Integrated Care Pathway initiative and is being led by a multidisciplinary working group that is Chaired by Debbie Barboza, Asthma and COPD Nurse Educator at Bermuda Hospitals Board, and supported by the Ministry’s UHC Project Management Office.
Integrated Care Pathways take a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to managing care for individuals with specific needs, in this case, individuals with Asthma and COPD. They outline a patient’s entire care journey, specifying what happens, when, and who is responsible at each stage. This process includes working group sessions and one-on-one interviews with both patients and health service providers.
To date, patient and service provider interviews have been conducted and two workshops have been scheduled and will include patient representatives and health service providers specialising in pediatrics, respiratory physiology, GPs, and public health.
“Asthma and COPD were identified as two of the priority diseases in the 2023 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment requiring the development of a priority disease control plan,” shares the Minister of Health, the Hon. Kim Wilson, JP, MP.
“Asthma was also one of the leading five reasons for pediatric insurance claims in 2021 and on a global level is the most common long-term condition in children. The results of these surveys will inform the creation and implementation of the Respiratory Illness Integrated Care Pathway, ensuring patient needs can be effectively addressed.”
“As Chair of the Working Group, I strongly encourage everyone impacted by these health conditions to participate in the patient surveys on respiratory illness,” invites Debbie Barboza. “Your feedback is essential in helping us understand the real-world challenges faced by patients and in developing a comprehensive and integrated care pathway that improves outcomes for all those affected by respiratory conditions.”
Minister Wilson concluded, “I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all health system stakeholders and respiratory illness patients who have contributed to this initiative so far, and to those who will continue to do so in the future. Your ongoing involvement is not only vital to this project, but also to all health system strengthening initiatives. Together, we are laying the foundation for a healthier and brighter future for all of Bermuda.”
ABOUT THE BERMUDA HEALTH STRATEGY AND UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE:
The Bermuda Health Strategy 2022 – 2027 (“The Health Strategy”) was developed as the next phase of work for the Ministry of Health as it works to achieve the vision of “healthy people in healthy communities”. The Health Strategy provides the frame to shift Bermuda’s health system as it works to implement Universal Health Coverage (“UHC”) and shift to a more people-centred approach to healthcare that focuses on delivering better care that meets the needs of individuals and families today and into the future. Bermuda’s UHC programme is a multi-year, multi-phased initiative that seeks to ensure “all people have equitable access to needed informative, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative essential health services, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that people do not suffer financial hardship when paying for these services and critical medicines.”