Developing services for long COVID: lessons from a study of wounded healers

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Healthcare Management
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Persistent symptoms after SARS-CoV-2 infection, known as long COVID, affect 10-20% of patients.
• The UK lacks formal guidelines for long COVID treatment, resulting in variable and sporadic services.
• Healthcare professionals experiencing long COVID offer unique insights into system needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the lived experiences of healthcare professionals with long COVID.
• To co-design quality standards for long COVID service development.
• To propose a potential care pathway model for long COVID patients.

Main Methods:

• Utilized narrative interviews and focus groups.
• Involved 43 healthcare professionals with long COVID.
• Employed a co-design approach for quality standards and pathway modeling.

Main Results:

• Identified key quality standards: equity, access, minimal patient burden, clinical responsibility, multidisciplinary and evidence-based care, and patient involvement.
• Developed a proposed care pathway model based on co-designed standards.
• Highlighted the value of healthcare professionals' dual perspectives in service design.

Conclusions:

• Co-designed quality standards and a care pathway model can inform the development of equitable and effective long COVID services.
• Addressing the needs of healthcare professionals with long COVID is crucial for improving patient care.
• Further adaptation and translation of the proposed model are recommended to enhance long COVID patient management.