Building the Framework

The Road to a National Lung Health Framework

For many years, stakeholders working in respiratory health and patients living with respiratory disease knew one thing – a better way of working together was needed if we were going to make a significant improvement in lung health. We needed to better understand what is happening in respiratory disease in Canada, promote and share our successes, and start filling in the gaps. We needed to create a long-term, strategic plan.
In April 2006, The Lung Association initiated the "Breathing Matters" workshop where respiratory health stakeholders made a collective effort to seek funding for, and to collaborate in, the development of a national strategic plan - the National Lung Health Framework.

A Steering Committee to guide the process

At the "Breathing Matters" workshop, The Lung Association was chosen to lead the process of developing the Framework, along with the support of the Government of Canada and a multi-stakeholder Steering Committee. The Committee's mandate was to identify the necessary steps and funding to develop a national action plan for lung health within two to three years.

Research on which to build the foundation

A series of research and consultation initiatives served as the foundation of the Framework. They included:
  • four multi-stakeholder workshops on the topics of Chronic Disease, Infectious Disease, Environment, and Tobacco Control;
  • an Asset Map and Gap Analysis report to document current work on lung health in Canada;
  • a cost-risk benefit analysis to identify where investment can give the highest return in health outcomes;
  • a multi-stakeholder workshop ("Plan for Action") to review and discuss work completed to date;
  • 13 provincial/territorial-based workshops and one industry-based workshop to review and discuss the Draft Framework Outline;
  • a preliminary National Lung Health Framework document reflecting the input of all stakeholder engagement activities and research that took place in 2007-2008.

Partnerships and collaboration

Over 500 volunteers have contributed to the Framework's development so far. Governments and leadership bodies from all jurisdictional levels have provided insight to produce the Framework Document which outlines the current state of respiratory health in Canada, our challenges and a collective solution to address them and put the Framework to action.