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

Public Health Rev. 2023 Sep 22:44:1606084. doi: 10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, STEM College, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
² Department of Health and Biostatistics, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
³ School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, College of Business, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁴ Northern Health Australia, Epping, VIC, Australia.
⁵ School of Media and Communication, College of Design and Social Context, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
⁶ Institute of Health and Wellbeing, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, VIC, Australia.
⁷ Institute for Design Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.

^# Contributed equally.

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: care model; guidelines; long COVID; long COVID services; multidisciplinary; post COVID-19 condition.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

The project “EAT, MOVE, HEAL for Long-COVID” (Project ID: PRJ00000010) was funded by a 2022 Strategic Capability Deployment Fund, RMIT University, Victoria, Australia.