- Published
- 22 September 2023
- Journal article
An overview of long COVID support services in Australia and international clinical guidelines, with a proposed care model in a global context
- Authors
- Source
- Public Health Reviews
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.
Rights
© 2023 Luo, Zheng, Bird, Plebanski, Figueiredo, Jessup, Stelmach, Robinson, Xenos, Olasoji, Wan, Sheahan and Itsiopoulos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Cite as
Luo, S., Zheng, Z., Bird, S., Plebanski, M., Figueiredo, B., Jessup, R., Stelmach, W., Robinson, J., Xenos, S., Olasoji, M., Wan, D., 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, article no: 1606084. https://doi.org/10.3389/phrs.2023.1606084