Living with Post-COVID Symptoms

Are you a B.C. resident struggling with post-COVID symptoms and looking for help?

The Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network offers research, education and care, to support you in your recovery.

What is post COVID or long COVID?

"Post COVID" is an umbrella term for any symptoms that remain after you are initially sick with COVID-19.

Post-COVID condition (commonly called “long COVID”) occur in people with a history of probable or confirmed COVID-19 infection who are experiencing symptoms for at least three (3) months from their initial illness that cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis or other causes.

Symptoms generally have an impact on everyday functioning.

What is long COVID? (Video)
Why is it called long COVID? (Video)

(Videos courtesy of Long COVID Physio)

Below, you will find two tabs:

Under the "Self-Care Info" tab, you will find information about long-COVID and links to resources to help you care for yourself. These materials have been prepared by health-care professionals.
The "Clinical Care" tab describes the services offered at the provincial virtual Post-COVID Recovery Clinic and outlines the referral process.

For a visual of what your recovery journey might look like, see our Patient Recovery Pathway infographic (PDF)

Self-care info

There’s still no single medical treatment or medications for long COVID. Most people follow a self-guided recovery path and use a combination of educational resources, tools, and symptom management strategies.

PC-ICCN has developed resources and tools to help you care for yourself. All materials have been prepared or reviewed by health care professionals.

If you’re newly diagnosed with long COVID, or if you’ve just been referred to the Post-COVID Recovery Clinic, you may want to start by watching these videos:

I think I have long COVID, how can the PC-ICCN help me? Overview of the typical recovery journey for people living with long COVID in BC and how the PC-ICCN can help.
What are common long-COVID symptoms? – Video from Long COVID Physio that describes the symptoms many people experience when they have long COVID.

MyGuide Long COVID

To support people living with long COVID, PC-ICCN developed MyGuide Long COVID, an online tool that helps people living with symptoms of long COVID and their caregivers find best-practice information to self-manage long COVID symptoms.

MyGuide Long COVID was developed in collaboration with patient partners, clinicians, and PHSA’s Provincial Digital Solutions team. It customizes symptom-specific care plans and resources based on information entered by the user. It provides personalized post-COVID-19 care recommendations and is available online at any time, from any device.

MyGuide Long COVID is available in six languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Punjabi, Tagalog and French. It also includes a dark mode for improved accessibility.

Please note: MyGuide Long COVID doesn’t replace the advice of your family doctor or nurse practitioner. If you haven’t already been diagnosed, please visit your family doctor or nurse practitioner for formal diagnosis.

Visit MyGuide Long COVID

Clinical care

The Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network’s model of care for people living with post-COVID symptoms takes an education-first approach. Patients have access to group education sessions and rehabilitation support. The Network also offers online resources to help those affected to support their recovery and supports for primary care providers.

The Network offers care and support to patients across B.C. who meet clinical referral criteria through a province-wide virtual Post-COVID Recovery Clinic. The clinic is managed by Providence Health Care.

Referrals

Your primary care provider (e.g. family doctor or nurse practitioner) can refer you to the Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Care Network (the Network) by completing the referral form (PDF). To be referred, you must be experiencing symptoms that limit your daily activities and that have been affecting you for at least three (3) months following your presumed or confirmed COVID-19 illness.

Before referring you, your primary care provider must have investigated your symptoms to rule out any other potential causes. The Network does not provide investigations and diagnostics.

Once your referral is received, a nursing case manager will contact you and review your case to determine the appropriate level of resources and services required to support your recovery.

Post-COVID Recovery Clinic

The virtual Post-COVID Recovery Clinic (based at Providence Health Care) is available to patients across B.C. who meet clinical eligibility criteria. Once accepted into the Network, you will be assigned a nursing case manager to oversee your care and assess your recovery. As needed, they will connect you with physicians or other specialists.

Through the Clinic, you will have access to group education sessions, led by social workers, physiotherapists or occupational therapists, that will give you techniques and strategies to support your recovery from long COVID.

As a participant in our Post-COVID Recovery Clinic, you will be presented with opportunities to get involved in research. If you are interested, more information can be found on our PC-ICCN Research page.

Learn how we're taking care of your Personal Health Information with our Notice of Collection (PDF).

Additional care info

Please find various tools, worksheets, and information to help you navigate your life post-COVID and support your recovery.

Tools & worksheets

These resources are designed to help you identify triggers or stressors that may be making your symptoms worse. They can help you learn how to effectively pace yourself during your recovery from COVID-19.

Introduction to Living in your Energy Envelope - Tool instructions
Tool #1 - Symptom Tracker
Tool #2 - Energy Point Chart
Tool #3 - Activity Checker
My Action Plan
COVID-19 Heart Rate Monitoring during exercise
Symptom Journal - a tool developed to empower patients struggling with COVID-19 related symptoms to help identify patterns to their symptom fluctuations over time

Returning to work

Returning to Work (Video) Discusses returning to work after an illness. This module reviews how to assess if you are ready, steps to take, and explores tips for a successful and sustained return to work plan.
Disability Alliance BC (Website) 1 to 1 assistance for disability benefits information

Finances

Dealing with Health-Related Financial Challenges – Part 1: Financial issues are common when dealing with a serious health setback or unanticipated event and are a source of great stress for many people.
This module discusses dealing with financial emergencies, how to prepare, and where to get the help you need.
Dealing with Health-Related Financial Challenges - Part 2 – Income Support Programs: This module focuses on income support and benefits available after employment disruption. This will discuss things to consider as you seek benefits, how to navigate financial tasks and prepare the paperwork and provide helpful resources to support you as you navigate your financial issues.

Advance care & financial planning

Advance Care and Financial Planning: Making important medical decisions, navigating financial and legal issues are common tasks when dealing with a serious health issue or unanticipated event and are a source of great stress for many people. This module discusses advance care and financial planning and reviews tools and steps to consider when dealing with this very important topic.

Sleep hygiene

Sleep Hygiene instructions (information sheet)
Sleep hygiene (video – BC Women's Hospital)
Sleep Series (Northern Pain Center)
Tips for Insomnia (Kelty's Key)
Sleep Advice (Sleepwell)

Nutrition

Information sheets

English‎

Patient and family support

Letter to family, caregivers, or friends This letter is for persons who are supporting someone living with post-COVID.

Using Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network resources & guidelines

Purpose of resources

Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network resources and guidelines are designed to support equitable, best practice care for people living with long COVID. The materials can be divided into two main categories:

Resources to support people living with long COVID in their recovery.
Resources and guidelines to support health care providers caring for people living with long COVID.

Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network clinical staff developed and reviewed the guidelines and resources based on the best information available at the time of publication. Refer to www.phsa.ca/postCOVID for the most recent versions.

Restrictions on guideline use

Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network guidelines and resources can be downloaded for personal, clinical, non-commercial use only. No reproduction by or for commercial organizations, or for commercial purposes, is allowed without the permission of the Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network. To request permission, e-mail post-COVID-ICCN@phsa.ca.

When referencing one of Post-COVID-19 Interdisciplinary Clinical Care Network’s guidelines or resources, use the following format: Name of guideline/resource, year. Available from: www.phsa.ca/postCOVID.

Tab Heading