RISE pulmonary rehabilitation program for COPD in safety-net clinics

Rehabilitation in Safety-Net Environments (RISE) for COPD

NIH-funded research University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11313844

Compares three ways of delivering a 10-week community pulmonary rehabilitation program with added social-resource support to help people with moderate-to-severe COPD in low-resource clinics increase activity and reduce hospital visits.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of California, San Francisco NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (San Francisco, United States)
Project IDNIH-11313844 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you join, you'll be randomly assigned to one of three options: the COPD Wellness 10-week program, COPD Wellness plus a Health Advocate who helps with social needs, or the usual care offered by your clinic. COPD Wellness includes exercise sessions, self-management education, and peer support delivered in community settings that are easier to reach than hospital-based rehab. Health Advocates are trained to help with things like transportation, housing, insurance, and other social barriers that can make it hard to stick with rehab. The team will track attendance, your activity and breathing symptoms, and whether you need emergency care or hospital stays over the study period.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Adults with moderate-to-severe COPD who receive care at safety-net or low-resource clinics and can attend community-based sessions in the San Francisco area are ideal candidates.

Not a fit: People with very mild COPD, those already enrolled in comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation, or those unable to travel to community sessions due to severe disability or unstable health are unlikely to benefit.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could help people in low-income communities stick with pulmonary rehabilitation, improve daily function and symptoms, and lower hospital visits.

How similar studies have performed: Pulmonary rehabilitation is well supported by prior research for improving COPD outcomes, but combining it with targeted social-resource support in safety-net settings is a newer approach that has not been widely tested.

Where this research is happening

San Francisco, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Conditions Chronic Obstruction Pulmonary DiseaseChronic Obstructive Lung Disease
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.