The long covid satellite clinic in the Chaudière-Appalaches region opened its doors on March 30, at the Physical Disability Rehabilitation Center in the Charny sector, in Lévis.
This clinic will allow people with long covid to stabilize their symptoms and better manage outbreaks when they occur.
Various services will be offered to users, such as group workshops on the symptoms and issues related to long covid. Several interdisciplinary services are mainly offered in telerehabilitation by professionals, such as occupational therapist, physiotherapist and social worker.
“There will be a lot of teaching to several users at the same time online. People will also be face-to-face, but a good part will be done online, ”says Mireille Gaudreau, spokesperson for the CISSS de Chaudière-Appalaches.
To date, about 40 patients have been admitted to this clinic.
“We have a ministry target of 500 [usagers] for our clinic, but we do not really know how many users we will have, because it will depend on the references of doctors that we will have”, specifies the spokesperson.
To benefit from the clinic’s services, users must absolutely have been referred by a doctor or a specialized front-line nurse practitioner. They must also have persistent symptoms after the initial episode of illness and affect their day-to-day functioning.
According to the CISSS-CA, the most common symptoms of long covid are fatigue, breathing difficulties and cognitive difficulties. About 15% of people who have contracted COVID-19 have persistence of symptoms more than 12 weeks after the initial infection.
June for Quebec
For the Capitale-Nationale region, the long covid clinic should begin its services during the month of June.
“Front line consultations, for example by a nurse, will be done virtually or by telephone given the fatigue of people affected by the long covid. If the symptoms are persistent, users will be referred to the CHU de Québec-Université Laval or to the IUCPQ”, specifies Annie Ouellet, spokesperson for the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale.
Nationally, 1.4 million Canadian adults reported having symptoms at least three months after testing positive for covid-19 or after suspecting an infection, according to Statistics Canada.
The most commonly reported persistent symptom was fatigue, followed by cough, shortness of breath, and “mind fog.”
