Lesson 1Social and behavioural history: smoking, alcohol, occupation, living conditions, exercise, salt intakeThis lesson covers how to ask about social and lifestyle factors like smoking, drinking, job, home setup, physical activity, and salt in food, and how these affect heart and lung health risks in Namibian contexts.
Smoking history, pack-years, and quitting stageAlcohol use, checks, and adviceJob, dust, and chemical risksHome setup, heating, and damp areasPhysical activity, exercise, and limitsEating habits, salt use, and body weightLesson 2Red flag and alarm symptoms: syncope, chest pain, hemoptysis, sudden worsening, severe hypotensionThis lesson explains spotting and asking about serious warning symptoms like fainting, sudden chest pain, coughing blood, quick breathing trouble, and low blood pressure, focusing on timing, linked signs, and when to seek emergency help.
Describing sudden chest pain and startChecking fainting, near-fainting, and fallsAssessing coughing blood amount and causesSudden breathing issues and possible lung clotsSpotting shock, low pressure, and poor blood flowLevels for urgent action and emergency send-offLesson 3Communication skills and documentation: open questions, focused clarifying questions, safety netting and recording key timestamps and responsesThis lesson focuses on building trust, using open and specific questions, addressing patient worries, summing up, giving safety advice, and noting symptoms, times, and answers clearly for legal and medical records.
Planning the heart and lung talkUsing open questions for the storySpecific questions for main symptomsChecking understanding and setting shared goalsSafety advice, warning signs, and next stepsClear, time-noted medical notesLesson 4Past medical history probes: hypertension, ischemic heart disease, valvular disease, rheumatic fever, COPD, sleep apnea, anemia, renal diseaseThis lesson includes asking about past heart and lung conditions like high blood pressure, blocked heart arteries, valve issues, rheumatic fever, chronic lung disease, sleep breathing pauses, low blood, and kidney problems, and how they affect risks and possible diagnoses.
Clarifying past heart diagnoses and treatmentsNoting high blood pressure length and controlHistory of rheumatic fever and valve effectsDetails on long-term lung issues, COPD, and asthmaSleep apnea, weight-related breathing, and machine useKidney issues, low blood, and heart-kidney linksLesson 5System-specific symptom screens: cough, wheeze, chest pain, palpitations, edema distribution, urinary symptomsThis lesson guides checking for lung, heart, and kidney signs like cough, whistling breath, chest pain, heart flutters, swelling patterns, urine changes, and general symptoms to narrow down possible causes.
Lung check: cough, phlegm, and whistlingHeart check: chest pain and fluttersSwelling pattern and spreadNight urine, low output, and kidney backup signsGeneral signs: fever, weight drop, tirednessConnecting findings to possible diagnosesLesson 6Targeted symptom history: dyspnea onset, progression, orthopnea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, exertional toleranceThis lesson teaches detailed asking about breathlessness start, worsening, lying-down breathing trouble, night waking with breath issues, effort limits, cough, and related signs, stressing start, progress, triggers, and daily life effects.
Start and worsening of breathlessness timelineLying-down and night breath troubleEffort limits and activity blocksCough, phlegm, and whistling detailsChest tightness, pain, and heart fluttersEffects on sleep, work, and daily lifeLesson 7Family history and risk factors: premature cardiovascular disease, cardiomyopathies, thrombophiliaThis lesson covers asking about family early heart disease, muscle weaknesses, irregular beats, clotting risks, and sudden deaths, and adding family genes and shared habits into risk levels.
Early blocked arteries in familyInherited heart muscle and electrical issuesFamily clotting in veinsSudden unexplained deaths and irregular beatsShared habits and surroundingsWhen to suggest gene advice referralLesson 8Medication review and adherence: prescription, OTC, herbal, adherence barriers, recent changesThis lesson explores full medicine history, including doctor-given, over-counter, plant-based, recent shifts, sticking issues, side effects, and clashes relevant to heart-lung problems and worsening.
Listing all doctor and over-counter medicinesSpotting heart and lung affecting drugsRecent medicine shifts and worseningChecking sticking, beliefs, and habitsFinding bad effects and clashesInhaler use and device problems
