The EU PAL-COPD consortium has published a new peer-reviewed article in BMJ Open Respiratory Research, presenting the study protocol for its international clinical trial evaluating the integration of palliative care into routine respiratory care for people with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The publication, titled “Integrating palliative care into respiratory care for people with advanced COPD: study protocol for the international EU PAL-COPD stepped wedge cluster randomised controlled trial of the ICLEAR-EU intervention”, outlines the trial design and evaluation methods.
The study will involve 1,224 patients across 18 hospitals in six European countries. It will assess whether the ICLEAR-EU intervention can reduce respiratory-related hospital readmissions within 90 days, improve quality of life for patients and their family caregivers, and offer a cost-effective approach to integrated care.
This publication marks an important step towards generating robust evidence to support more patient-centred and family-centred respiratory care across Europe.
Read the publication: BMJ Open Respiratory Research
Published: 2 November 2026
