An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context

Shiqi Luo; Zhen Zheng; Stephen Richard Bird; Magdalena Plebanski; Bernardo Figueiredo; Rebecca Jessup; Wanda Stelmach; Jennifer A. Robinson; Sophia Xenos; Micheal Olasoji; Dawn Wong Lit Wan; Jacob Sheahan; Catherine Itsiopoulos

doi:10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084

An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context

Shiqi Luo, Zhen Zheng, Stephen Richard Bird, Magdalena Plebanski, Bernardo Figueiredo, Rebecca Jessup, Wanda Stelmach, Jennifer A. Robinson, Sophia Xenos, Micheal Olasoji, Dawn Wong Lit Wan, Jacob Sheahan, Catherine Itsiopoulos

Edinburgh College of Art

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Objective: To identify gaps among Australian Long COVID support services and guidelines alongside recommendations for future health programs.

Methods: Electronic databases and seven government health websites were searched for Long COVID-specific programs or clinics available in Australia as well as international and Australian management guidelines.

Results: Five Long COVID specific guidelines and sixteen Australian services were reviewed. The majority of Australian services provided multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs with service models generally consistent with international and national guidelines. Most services included physiotherapists and psychologists. While early investigation at week 4 after contraction of COVID-19 is recommended by the Australian, UK and US guidelines, this was not consistently implemented.

Conclusion: Besides Long COVID clinics, future solutions should focus on early identification that can be delivered by General Practitioners and all credentialed allied health professions. Study findings highlight an urgent need for innovative care models that address individual patient needs at an affordable cost. We propose a model that focuses on patient-led self-care with further enhancement via multi-disciplinary care tools.

Original language	English
Article number	1606084
Pages (from-to)	1-13
Number of pages	13
Journal	Public health reviews
Volume	44
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084
Publication status	Published - 22 Sept 2023

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

long COVID
care models
guidelines
long COVID services
post COVID-19 condition
multidisciplinary

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10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

Sheahan2023JHSLongCovidFinal published version, 1.65 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY)

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Luo, S., Zheng, Z., Bird, S. R., Plebanski, M., Figueiredo, B., Jessup, R., Stelmach, W., Robinson, J. A., Xenos, S., Olasoji, M., Wan, D. W. L., Sheahan, J., & Itsiopoulos, C. (2023). An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context. Public health reviews, 44, 1-13. Article 1606084. https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084

@article{9acf892a4006483889c496c81b88538e,

title = "An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context",

abstract = "Objective: To identify gaps among Australian Long COVID support services and guidelines alongside recommendations for future health programs.Methods: Electronic databases and seven government health websites were searched for Long COVID-specific programs or clinics available in Australia as well as international and Australian management guidelines.Results: Five Long COVID specific guidelines and sixteen Australian services were reviewed. The majority of Australian services provided multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs with service models generally consistent with international and national guidelines. Most services included physiotherapists and psychologists. While early investigation at week 4 after contraction of COVID-19 is recommended by the Australian, UK and US guidelines, this was not consistently implemented.Conclusion: Besides Long COVID clinics, future solutions should focus on early identification that can be delivered by General Practitioners and all credentialed allied health professions. Study findings highlight an urgent need for innovative care models that address individual patient needs at an affordable cost. We propose a model that focuses on patient-led self-care with further enhancement via multi-disciplinary care tools.",

keywords = "long COVID, care models, guidelines, long COVID services, post COVID-19 condition, multidisciplinary",

author = "Shiqi Luo and Zhen Zheng and Bird, {Stephen Richard} and Magdalena Plebanski and Bernardo Figueiredo and Rebecca Jessup and Wanda Stelmach and Robinson, {Jennifer A.} and Sophia Xenos and Micheal Olasoji and Wan, {Dawn Wong Lit} and Jacob Sheahan and Catherine Itsiopoulos",

note = "Funding Information: The project “EAT, MOVE, HEAL for Long-COVID” (Project ID: PRJ00000010) was funded by a 2022 Strategic Capability Deployment Fund, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2023 Luo, Zheng, Bird, Plebanski, Figueiredo, Jessup, Stelmach, Robinson, Xenos, Olasoji, Wan, Sheahan and Itsiopoulos.",

year = "2023",

month = sep,

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doi = "10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084",

language = "English",

volume = "44",

pages = "1--13",

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Luo, S, Zheng, Z, Bird, SR, Plebanski, M, Figueiredo, B, Jessup, R, Stelmach, W, Robinson, JA, Xenos, S, Olasoji, M, Wan, DWL, Sheahan, J & Itsiopoulos, C 2023, 'An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context', Public health reviews, vol. 44, 1606084, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084

TY - JOUR

T1 - An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context

AU - Luo, Shiqi

AU - Zheng, Zhen

AU - Bird, Stephen Richard

AU - Plebanski, Magdalena

AU - Figueiredo, Bernardo

AU - Jessup, Rebecca

AU - Stelmach, Wanda

AU - Robinson, Jennifer A.

AU - Xenos, Sophia

AU - Olasoji, Micheal

AU - Wan, Dawn Wong Lit

AU - Sheahan, Jacob

AU - Itsiopoulos, Catherine

N1 - Funding Information: The project “EAT, MOVE, HEAL for Long-COVID” (Project ID: PRJ00000010) was funded by a 2022 Strategic Capability Deployment Fund, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Luo, Zheng, Bird, Plebanski, Figueiredo, Jessup, Stelmach, Robinson, Xenos, Olasoji, Wan, Sheahan and Itsiopoulos.

PY - 2023/9/22

Y1 - 2023/9/22

N2 - Objective: To identify gaps among Australian Long COVID support services and guidelines alongside recommendations for future health programs.Methods: Electronic databases and seven government health websites were searched for Long COVID-specific programs or clinics available in Australia as well as international and Australian management guidelines.Results: Five Long COVID specific guidelines and sixteen Australian services were reviewed. The majority of Australian services provided multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs with service models generally consistent with international and national guidelines. Most services included physiotherapists and psychologists. While early investigation at week 4 after contraction of COVID-19 is recommended by the Australian, UK and US guidelines, this was not consistently implemented.Conclusion: Besides Long COVID clinics, future solutions should focus on early identification that can be delivered by General Practitioners and all credentialed allied health professions. Study findings highlight an urgent need for innovative care models that address individual patient needs at an affordable cost. We propose a model that focuses on patient-led self-care with further enhancement via multi-disciplinary care tools.

AB - Objective: To identify gaps among Australian Long COVID support services and guidelines alongside recommendations for future health programs.Methods: Electronic databases and seven government health websites were searched for Long COVID-specific programs or clinics available in Australia as well as international and Australian management guidelines.Results: Five Long COVID specific guidelines and sixteen Australian services were reviewed. The majority of Australian services provided multidisciplinary rehabilitation programs with service models generally consistent with international and national guidelines. Most services included physiotherapists and psychologists. While early investigation at week 4 after contraction of COVID-19 is recommended by the Australian, UK and US guidelines, this was not consistently implemented.Conclusion: Besides Long COVID clinics, future solutions should focus on early identification that can be delivered by General Practitioners and all credentialed allied health professions. Study findings highlight an urgent need for innovative care models that address individual patient needs at an affordable cost. We propose a model that focuses on patient-led self-care with further enhancement via multi-disciplinary care tools.

KW - long COVID

KW - care models

KW - guidelines

KW - long COVID services

KW - post COVID-19 condition

KW - multidisciplinary

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DO - 10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084

M3 - Article

SN - 0301-0422

VL - 44

SP - 1

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JO - Public health reviews

JF - Public health reviews

M1 - 1606084

ER -

An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context

Abstract

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

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