Canadian Lung Association
Encyclopedia
The Canadian Lung Association (CLA) is a national organization and volunteer-based health charity
, The Lung Association depends on donation
s from the public to support lung
health research
, education
, prevention
and advocacy
[1].
The CLA’s mission is promoting and improving lung health for all Canadians
.
Beginning as a movement in 1900 to control the spread of tuberculosis
and provide better services for TB patients, today the CLA focuses on all issues that affect the ability of Canadians to breathe every day. This includes leading nationwide and international lung health initiatives to prevent lung disease, helping people manage lung disease, and promote lung health. Their provincial and national offices work together to help the one in five Canadians who have breathing
problems.
and COPD, infectious disease
s like TB, flu
, and pneumonia
, and breathing disorders like sleep apnea
. They provide information to both citizens and governments, and advocate for improvements when lung disease patients are getting inadequate care.
Recognizing that many lung diseases can be prevented, the CLA informs people about the health effects of air pollution
, indoors and out. This includes help to smokers
who are trying to quit, and providing education
al material and programs to make sure fewer people take up smoking. They also encourage government
s at every level to create laws and policies that promote clean air and protect our lungs.
The CLA funds world-class medical research in Canada to find treatments- and ultimately a cure- for lung diseases. Through the Canadian Thoracic Society
and Canadian Respiratory Health Professionals, they help doctors and allied health professionals set the highest standards in patient care, and continue to expand their knowledge about lung diseases and treatments.
Watch the CLA’s historical video
http://www.lung.ca/about-propos/who-qui/historicalvideo-videohistorique/index_e.php
The national office, located in Ottawa
, supports the work of the provincial associations. In addition, the national office:
Coordinates a national Christmas Seal
campaign, our main source of revenue
Supports national lung health programs like Breathworks for those with COPD
Delivers online lung health information
Leads advocacy campaigns at the federal government
level
Manages a national research program
The provincial offices deliver lung health services and programs to citizens through their local offices. Provincial Lung Associations offer a variety of programs, such as:
Presentations and teaching material on the health effects of smoking
Free quit lines to help smokers overcome their addiction
Support group
s for people living with lung diseases
Information about lung diseases, treatments, and how to cope
Local fundraising
activities
Expertise and advocacy on provincial lung health issues
Professional development and training for lung health professionals
As Patron of The Lung Association, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean
, assists in raising the profile of the Association and highlighting its goals as they relate to improving the respiratory health of Canadians.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean
The connection between The Lung Association and the Governor General goes back to 1900 when the 8th Governor General of Canada - the Earl of Minto
- helped found the Canadian Tuberculosis Association (as The Lung Association was originally known) in a meeting at Rideau Hall
.
Partners in research
The Lung Association partners with leading healthcare companies and organizations to offer research awards and fellowships.
Award winners are selected through an arms-length peer review
process managed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
.
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
, The Lung Association depends on donation
Donation
A donation is a gift given by physical or legal persons, typically for charitable purposes and/or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including cash, services, new or used goods including clothing, toys, food, and vehicles...
s from the public to support lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
health research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, prevention
Preventive medicine
Preventive medicine or preventive care refers to measures taken to prevent diseases, rather than curing them or treating their symptoms...
and advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...
[1].
The CLA’s mission is promoting and improving lung health for all Canadians
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Beginning as a movement in 1900 to control the spread of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and provide better services for TB patients, today the CLA focuses on all issues that affect the ability of Canadians to breathe every day. This includes leading nationwide and international lung health initiatives to prevent lung disease, helping people manage lung disease, and promote lung health. Their provincial and national offices work together to help the one in five Canadians who have breathing
Breathing
Breathing is the process that moves air in and out of the lungs. Aerobic organisms require oxygen to release energy via respiration, in the form of the metabolism of energy-rich molecules such as glucose. Breathing is only one process that delivers oxygen to where it is needed in the body and...
problems.
What the CLA does
The Lung Association works at the national, provincial and community levels to improve and promote lung health. We focus on chronic lung disease like asthmaAsthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
and COPD, infectious disease
Infectious disease
Infectious diseases, also known as communicable diseases, contagious diseases or transmissible diseases comprise clinically evident illness resulting from the infection, presence and growth of pathogenic biological agents in an individual host organism...
s like TB, flu
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
, and pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, and breathing disorders like sleep apnea
Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by abnormal pauses in breathing or instances of abnormally low breathing, during sleep. Each pause in breathing, called an apnea, can last from a few seconds to minutes, and may occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Similarly, each abnormally low...
. They provide information to both citizens and governments, and advocate for improvements when lung disease patients are getting inadequate care.
Recognizing that many lung diseases can be prevented, the CLA informs people about the health effects of air pollution
Air pollution
Air pollution is the introduction of chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere....
, indoors and out. This includes help to smokers
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
who are trying to quit, and providing education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al material and programs to make sure fewer people take up smoking. They also encourage government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
s at every level to create laws and policies that promote clean air and protect our lungs.
The CLA funds world-class medical research in Canada to find treatments- and ultimately a cure- for lung diseases. Through the Canadian Thoracic Society
Canadian Thoracic Society
Canadian Thoracic Society was established when the Canadian Tuberculosis Association, now The Lung Association, recognized the need for a medical association as evidenced by the increase in attendance of both medical and non-medical members at the annual meetings.-See also:* Registered Respiratory...
and Canadian Respiratory Health Professionals, they help doctors and allied health professionals set the highest standards in patient care, and continue to expand their knowledge about lung diseases and treatments.
Watch the CLA’s historical video
http://www.lung.ca/about-propos/who-qui/historicalvideo-videohistorique/index_e.php
Programs & Services
The Lung Association offers various programs and service through both its national and provincial offices.The national office, located in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, supports the work of the provincial associations. In addition, the national office:
Coordinates a national Christmas Seal
Christmas Seal
Christmas Seals are labels placed on mail during the Christmas season to raise funds and awareness for charitable programs.They have become particularly associated with lung diseases such as tuberculosis, and with child welfare...
campaign, our main source of revenue
Supports national lung health programs like Breathworks for those with COPD
Delivers online lung health information
Leads advocacy campaigns at the federal government
Federal government
The federal government is the common government of a federation. The structure of federal governments varies from institution to institution. Based on a broad definition of a basic federal political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and...
level
Manages a national research program
The provincial offices deliver lung health services and programs to citizens through their local offices. Provincial Lung Associations offer a variety of programs, such as:
Presentations and teaching material on the health effects of smoking
Free quit lines to help smokers overcome their addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
Support group
Support group
In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic...
s for people living with lung diseases
Information about lung diseases, treatments, and how to cope
Local fundraising
Fundraising
Fundraising or fund raising is the process of soliciting and gathering voluntary contributions as money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies...
activities
Expertise and advocacy on provincial lung health issues
Professional development and training for lung health professionals
As Patron of The Lung Association, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean
Michaëlle Jean
Michaëlle Jean is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 27th since Canadian Confederation, from 2005 to 2010....
, assists in raising the profile of the Association and highlighting its goals as they relate to improving the respiratory health of Canadians.
Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean
The connection between The Lung Association and the Governor General goes back to 1900 when the 8th Governor General of Canada - the Earl of Minto
Earl of Minto
Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The family descends from the politician and judge Gilbert Elliot, who served as a Lord of Session under the judicial title of Lord...
- helped found the Canadian Tuberculosis Association (as The Lung Association was originally known) in a meeting at Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall
Rideau Hall is, since 1867, the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a 0.36 km2 estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of 170 rooms across 9,500 m2 , and 24 outbuildings around the...
.
Research
The Lung Association funds medical research in Canada to find treatments - and ultimately a cure - for lung diseases.Partners in research
The Lung Association partners with leading healthcare companies and organizations to offer research awards and fellowships.
Award winners are selected through an arms-length peer review
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
process managed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Institutes of Health Research is the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada. It is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. It aims to create new health knowledge, and to translate that knowledge from the research setting into real world...
.