Research Highlights

• Redefined breathlessness as a complex experience beyond medical symptoms
• Improved clinical approaches and patient experience
• Developed innovative therapeutic interventions
• Inspired cultural and artistic representations of breath and breathlessness

Traditional medical approaches often reduce breathlessness to objective measures such as lung function tests, missing the personal, emotional and psychological dimensions of the experience.

The Life of Breath project, led by Professor Havi Carel of the Department of Philosophy and Professor Jane Macnaughton of Durham University has had a transformative impact on this understanding - influencing healthcare professionals, inspiring artists and generating significant benefits for patients.

A new basis for understanding

Professor Carel’s research for Life of Breath began with applying phenomenology to challenge traditional perceptions of breathlessness

This work established that breathlessness is not only an individual experience but one that is shaped by emotional and cultural factors,  which should be considered in both medical treatment and public understanding.

Subsequently, Professor Carel published recommendations aimed at healthcare professionals, including a policy report that provides research-based recommendations for improved end-of-life care, a move to a holistic understanding of breathlessness and the creation of dedicated breathlessness services. 

In response to the pandemic, the research also informed the NHS guide, ‘Managing breathlessness at home during the COVID-19 outbreak’, which outlined resources tailored to COVID-19-related breathlessness and contributed a humanities perspective on the virus to the International Science Council.

Informing clinical practice

Professor Carel developed a patient toolkit that helps patients discern and articulate the experience of illness as part of the Life of Breath project.

The toolkit has since been used to design patient workshops in the UK to support and improve patients’ quality of life.

A respiratory consultant from Southmead Hospital described the project’s impact: “Life of Breath has exposed me to a completely different way of understanding, communicating and thinking about breathlessness. I now make patient experience the defining focus of my consultations.”

The influence of the project has extended internationally too, with healthcare professionals in countries such as Denmark, Iceland and the United States integrating its insights into clinical practices.

Improving patient experience

In addition, Life of Breath has had a direct impact on improving the quality of life for people who experience breathlessness. Emphasising the lived experience, the project developed several interventions that addressed both physical and emotional aspects of breathlessness, including mindfulness practices and ‘Singing for Breathing’ groups.

Patients who participated in Singing for Breathing have reported better control over their breathing and improved confidence. One participant said, “It’s helping me sustain the breath, it’s helping me build my confidence towards singing and it’s helping with panic attacks.”

Influencing Arts and Cultural Representations

Beyond these interventions, Life of Breath’s humanities-based perspective has inspired new ways of representing breathlessness in the arts which have brought the topic into public view, encouraging people to understand it as a complex, deeply personal experience.

The project’s flagship exhibition, Catch Your Breath, was the first of its kind and focussed on the themes of both breath and breathlessness. Hosted at the Royal College of Physicians and Southmead Hospital, the exhibition attracted nearly 10,000 visitors who were encouraged to better understand the impact that breathlessness can have on individuals’ lives.

Among many other cultural interpretations, Professor Carel’s work has also inspired two medical poems  - ‘She’s breathing’, by Alexandra Parvan, and ‘The unmapped geography of breath’, by Dr Emily Wills – yet another example of how Life of Breath has inspired broader discussions around health, illness and the cultural significance of breath.