Grant: Project Grant

Long COVID (LC), a complex condition following COVID-19, affects about one in nine Canadians, causing disability and costing billions each year. Despite a national plan and vaccinations, we lack a cure. However, clinicians, patients and researchers across Canada have been teaming up to better diagnose and treat LC, using available medications and rehabilitation techniques. This valuable knowledge, however, is spread out across the country. Over the next four years, we aim to determine the effective care strategies in LC clinics from the Province of Quebec (QC) and spread them to be used nationwide. We want this information to help primary care clinicians, patients, and policy makers create learning strategies and mobilize them across all regions, aligning with national health guidelines. Our specific goals are: 1- Describe patient's journey through clinical-patient encounters within an LC clinic. 2- Establish best practices in terms of diagnostic, treatments, rehabilitation and return to work/school that are most impactful on safety, quality of life, satisfaction, and shared decisions. 3- To support primary care clinicians with adequate learning strategies. We will use a special audio-video recording setup to closely observe and record treatment sessions from 300 patients over three years and across LC clinics. We will study them deeply to understand and improve care quality. We will compare this data with other sources such as patient-reported outcome measures, and data from their electronic medical records. Our project, supported by significant investments, is in line with national health priorities to innovate and improve LC care.