This trial will evaluate the feasibility of a pilot educational intervention for GPs that aims to enhance care and care outcomes among patients with long COVID at six general practices in the Ireland East region. Our first objective is to conduct focus groups with key stakeholders (GPs, other health professionals, patients, families/carers) that will inform the contents of an education intervention. The second objective will be to implement this educational intervention, and the third objective will be to determine whether the intervention is feasible. Study outcomes will include: * Qualitative findings from co-design focus groups and post-intervention semi-structured interviews with GPs. * Practice and patient study recruitment and retention data. * GP / Practice characteristics: age \& gender, practice location, general and COVID-19 patient population figures. * Patient characteristics: Patient age, gender, COVID-19 vaccination status, and medical history details. * Patient scores on a self-report measure assessing the symptoms, symptom severity, functional impact, and overall health (COVID-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C-19-YRS)).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
72
Intervention group activity involves three components: 1. Intervention group GPs will be provided with a long COVID 'toolkit'. The toolkit will be prepared by the study team in collaboration with expert clinicians and public and patient representatives as a resource for GPs to use in patient care. 2. GPs will attend an expert clinician / patient led long COVID educational session grounded in the findings of the toolkit. 3. Applying learnings to date, each GP will conduct case reviews of eight patients with long COVID attending their practice and provide patient care as appropriate.
Qualitative data from focus groups and post-intervention interviews
Qualitative analyses will be used to capture focus group and intervention participants' study related views and experiences, with emphasis on accounts illustrating the intervention's feasibility.
Time frame: Focus groups (4 weeks), post intervention interviews (4 weeks).
Study engagement data
Descriptive statistics will assess trends relating to study invitation, commencement, and completion. Qualitative analysis will examine reasons for study exclusion, non-commencement, and non-completion.
Time frame: 12 weeks
GP and patient demographics / medical details
Descriptive statistics and qualitative analysis of open-ended responses outlining practice, GP, and patient demographics, as well as patient medical details, will be conducted.
Time frame: 4 weeks
Patients'scores on the COVID-19-YRS
Descriptive and inferential statistics outlining aggregated baseline and six-week follow-up scores on the The Covid-19 Yorkshire Rehabilitation Scale (C-19-YRS) will be calculated. The C19-YRS has four subscales concerned with the severity of patients' key symptoms, functional limitations, overall health, and additional symptoms. Each item is rated on a 0-10 numerical rating scale, where 0 represents the symptom not being present, and 10 represents the symptom being extremely severe or life disturbing.
Time frame: 6 weeks
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