Welcome to the Breathing Thinking Functioning Website

The Breathing, Thinking, Functioning (BTF) model is a tool to help health professionals understand and manage chronic breathlessness.

Breathlessness affects the daily lives of many people with long-term health conditions, like lung or heart disease. This disabling and frightening symptom often persists despite best possible treatment of the disease.

The BTF model explains why breathlessness happens, and supports health professionals to provide personalised breathlessness management for their patients.

The BTF model has been developed by the Cambridge Breathlessness Intervention Service.

This website is for

  • health professionals managing people experiencing intractable breathlessness;
  • academics working in the field of chronic breathlessness;
  • and for people experiencing breathlessness and those supporting them.

With increasing international use of the BTF model, this website is home for an emerging community of practice.

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