Webinars

Description: 

Post-COVID-19 condition (PCC), or long COVID, is emerging as a significant burden on societies and healthcare systems. A proportion of people who contract COVID-19 experience persistent symptoms that can last for months or even longer, impacting their daily functioning. Initially described in adults, long COVID is now recognized to affect children and adolescents as well. While research is still evolving, the majority of available data is focused on adults, leaving healthcare professionals uncertain about how to approach long COVID in the pediatric population.

At McMaster University, with financial and scientific support from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), we are developing six evidence-based guidelines for post-COVID-19 condition, featuring over 100 recommendations.

Our multidisciplinary team of 90 members spans the country, including 40 researchers, 9 individuals with lived/living experience of long COVID, healthcare professionals, and health economists. In addition, an equity oversight committee ensures that equity considerations are embedded throughout the guideline development process—making this one of the first guideline projects to prioritize equity in this way. We also integrate international perspectives through an advisory board and evidence interpretation group.

One of the six guideline topics specifically addresses Children and Adolescents, providing recommendations on the prevention, diagnosis, approach and treatment of PCC in this population. This webinar will present the methodology used to develop these guidelines as well as the recommendations released to date pertinent to the pediatric population.

Description: 

Many healthcare services rapidly pivoted to virtual delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a hybrid model of care is commonly used, but little research has examined how in-person or virtual care decisions are made for pediatric care. While virtual delivery of care might be acceptable or preferable for some, it may bring additional barriers to quality health services for others, including youth and families impacted by low access to technology, or those who require more complex, in-person care. Moreover, youth and their families are not always involved in decisions around treatment delivery to the extent that they would like.

This webinar will present findings from a national study examining practices and perspectives about in-person vs virtual care for pediatric chronic pain. This project was borne out of engagement with diverse youth and caregivers who expressed the need to be more included in decisions around virtual care delivery. The presenters, including a trainee and patient partner, will describe themes created from interviews with youth with chronic pain, caregivers, and multidisciplinary pediatric chronic pain healthcare professionals, with a focus on shared decision-making for in-person versus virtual pediatric chronic pain management. The findings will demonstrate how and why shared decision-making can be important for pediatric chronic pain in-person versus virtual care decisions, and include suggestions on how to integrate shared decision-making into multidisciplinary clinical practice to better enact patient-oriented, equitable care.