Scalable modEls of Community rehAbilitation for Individuals Recovering From COVID:19 reLated illnEss: A Longitudinal Service Evaluation Protocol—“SeaCole Cohort Evaluation”

Benjamin Kelly, Aidan Innes, Marc Holl, Laura Mould, Susan Powell, Danielle Burns, Patrick Joseph Doherty, Greg Whyte, James King, Davina Deniszczyc

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Introduction: High levels of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial impairments are anticipated for those recovering from the COVID-19. In the UK, 50% of survivors will require additional rehabilitation. Despite this, there is currently no evidence-based guideline available in England and Wales that addresses the identification, timing and nature of effective interventions to manage the morbidity associated following COVID-19. It is now timely to accelerate the development and evaluation of a rehabilitation service to support patients and healthcare services. Nuffield Health have responded by configuring
a scalable rehabilitation pathway addressing the immediate requirements for those recovering from COVID-19 in the community.
Methods and Analysis: This long-term evaluation will examine the effectiveness
of a 12-week community rehabilitation programme for COVID-19 patients who have been discharged following in-patient treatment. Consisting of two distinct 6-week phases; Phase 1 is an entirely remote service, delivered via digital applications. Phase 2 sees the same patients transition into a gym-based setting for supervised group-based rehabilitation. Trained rehabilitation specialists will coach patients across areas such as goal setting, exercise prescription, symptom management and emotional well-being. Outcomes will be collected at 0, 6, and 12 weeks and at 6- and 12-months. Primary outcome measures will assess changes in health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) and COVID-19 symptoms using EuroQol Five Dimension Five Level Version (EQ-5D-5L) and Dyspnea-12, respectively. Secondary outcome measures of the Duke Activity Status Questionnaire (DASI), 30 s sit to stand test, General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Patient Experience
Questionnaire (PEQ) and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) will allow for the evaluation of outcomes, mediators and moderators of outcome, and cost-effectiveness of treatment. Kelly et al. Scalable Models of Covid-19 Rehabilitation
Discussion: This evaluation will investigate the immediate and long-term impact, as well as the cost effectiveness of a blended rehabilitation programme for COVID-19 survivors. This evaluation will provide a founding contribution to the literature, evaluating one of the first programmes of this type in the UK. The evaluation has international relevance, with the potential to show how a new model of service provision can support health services in the wake of COVID-19.
Trial Registration: Current Trials ISRCTN ISRCTN14707226
Web: http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14707226
Original languageEnglish
JournalFrontiers in public health
Volume9
Issue number628333
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 May 2021

Bibliographical note

© 2021 Kelly, Innes, Holl, Mould, Powell, Burns, Doherty, Whyte,
King and Deniszczyc

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