Eat Move Heal

Eat Move Heal

Research leads: Professor Catherine Itsiopoulos and Associate Professor Zhen Zheng

Nurse helping elderly person using a walker

RMIT team

Background

Heart and stroke complications are a known risk for individuals that develop long COVID-19. Presently, long COVID-19 is managed at home. Immune and brain dysfunction, with concomitant cognitive and mood disorders, are also long COVID-19 complications.

Through three deep dive workshops with Northern Health (NH), Whittlesea City Council and Safer Care Victoria, a significant gap was identified in health service support to those with long-COVID as to date healthcare system efforts have focused on managing and isolating patients newly diagnosed with COVID-19. Moreover, patients from diverse ethnic backgrounds serviced by NH services, appear particularly vulnerable to long-COVID-19 related misinformation, including its at home management.

Solution

'Eat Move Heal', a multi-school, multi-College collaborative research project with external partners Northern Health, City of Whittlesea and SaferCare Victoria, aims to co-design diet/nutrition, exercise and mental health support tools to recovery (brain, heart, immune system) from long COVID-19.  One of these support tools includes a brochure created by RMIT’s Mental Health Innovation Network that includes mental health resources.

There are plans to expand this initiative to deploy the tools generated to 30,000 long COVID-19 patients in the Whittlesea community, as well as generate and test a new tool to monitor heart and stroke risk in this population, with capability for rapid deployment into this community.

Impact

Through identifying gaps between guidelines and service provision, the team proposed a care model that promotes early detection, early intervention, prevention, a whole-person approach and engagement of people with long-COVID. The model also calls for workforce training of all healthcare professions working in the community.

View journal article: An Overview of Long COVID Support Services in Australia and International Clinical Guidelines, With a Proposed Care Model in a Global Context.

The team followed the 3-month journey of 15 Australians who suffer from long-COVID and found two important factors that impact on people’s experience with long-COVID – social support and agency.

Those who have a strong network, physically or online, who are willing to provide support and make decisions to manage their own healthcare, have better experiences, either improving or maintaining their quality of life. On the contrary, those have limited ability to make decisions to manage their health condition and has a limited network of people who are willing to provide support did far worse.

The matrix below explains the four possible clusters. It is essential those factors being considered by all healthcare professionals who look after individuals with long-COVID.

View journal article: Journey mapping long COVID: Agency and social support for long-hauling.

Support

This project is supported by RMIT through the University’s researchers in the research team, including the Biomedical and Health Innovation Platform Director, Distinguished Professor Magdalena Plebanski and other Platform affiliates. It was also funded by the EIP Re-start program.

 

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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