IPCRG Desktop Helpers

Desktop Helpers (formerly called IPCRG Opinion Papers) are user-friendly information sheets developed by the IPCRG, working with clinicians, patients and clinical educators. These:

• provide practical guidance and support for clinicians working in primary care on different aspects of the diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases
• are all based on evidence and provide links to further resources

Desktop Helpers are available on the following topics (click the images at the bottom of this page to view the relevant Desktop Helper and its translations, if these are available):

• General respiratory care, treatment and management
  • Women and respiratory disease – a sex and gender perspective (Desktop Helper No. 1)
  • Palliative care (Desktop Helper No. 3)
  • Remote Respiratory Consultations (Desktop Helper No. 11)
  • Breathlessness in adults: A practical guide for primary care clinicians (Desktop Helper No. 17)
• Diagnosis
  • Usefulness of Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) in Everyday Clinical Practice for Asthma (Desktop Helper No.18)
  • The ‘jigsaw puzzle’ approach to building a diagnostic picture of asthma in primary care over time (Desktop Helper No. 15)
  • A quick guide to Spirometry (Desktop Helper No. 14)
  • A practical guide to improve rhinitis diagnosis in primary care (Desktop Helper 19)
• Tobacco
  • Helping patients quit tobacco (Desktop Helper No. 4 - 3rd edition)
• Asthma
  • Usefulness of Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) in Everyday Clinical Practice for Asthma (Desktop Helper No.18)
  • The ‘jigsaw puzzle’ approach to building a diagnostic picture of asthma in primary care over time (Desktop Helper no. 15)
  • A practical guide to improve difficult-to-manage asthma in primary care (Desktop Helper No. 2)
  • Personalised care: adults with asthma (Desktop Helper No. 9)
• COPD
  • Severe mental illness, tobacco dependence and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Desktop Helper No. 16)
  • A quick guide to Spirometry (Desktop Helper No. 14)
  • Achieving earlier diagnosis of COPD (Desktop Helper No. 13)
  • Evaluation of appropriateness of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy in COPD and guidance on ICS withdrawal (Desktop Helper No. 6)
  • Pulmonary Rehabilitation in the community (Desktop Helper No. 7)
  • Improving care for women with COPD: guidance for primary care (Desktop Helper No. 8)
  • Rational use of inhaled medications for the patient with COPD and multiple comorbid conditions: guidance for primary care (Desktop Helper No. 10)
  • COPD and Mental Health: Holistic and Practical Guidance for Primary Care (Desktop Helper No. 12)
  • Improving the life of people with COPD by integrating a supportive and palliative approach from diagnosis to end of life (Desktop Helper No. 3)
• Rhinitis
  • A practical guide to improve rhinitis diagnosis in primary care (Desktop Helper 19)