The art of science: Towards understanding Long COVID in the workplace

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COVID Matters Edition 6

“This is science as we’re living it, and it’s quite unusual. People like myself are constantly looking at what is happening around the world, and if you look at medical journal databases, you can see there are over 250,000 articles out now in relation to COVID-19. It’s impossible to keep track of what is happening.”

Professor Adrian Esterman
Chair of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of South Australia (as quoted in mamamia.com.au on 5 April 2022)

 

When we first launched the COVID Matters newsletter in December 2020, we undertook to track research and studies on COVID-19 and its impact on long-term health, mental health, neurological conditions, fatigue-related issues, workplace risk and changes to the Australian labour market. Two years later, we are still doing just that.

Edition 6 of COVID Matters looks specifically at Long COVID studies, distilling them into bite-sized learnings to save you time.

Long COVID is where our experience supporting people through illness and injury to return to work can come into play as a practical support for your organisation and people.

We have teamed up with Monash University to develop a suite of evidence-based COVID support services. This includes a screening tool for when a person with COVID might be heading towards Long COVID – and to define when you should seek early intervention for them. Plus, a tailored health coaching program to support return to work for people who are impacted by a COVID diagnosis or Long COVID.

Please reach out to your local IPAR representative to learn more.

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COVID Matters Newsletter Edition 5

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The latest edition of the COVID Matters newsletter brought to you by IPAR, mlcoa and MedHealth focuses on managing the return to work and extra support for people experiencing Long COVID.

We highlight three studies, with practical return to work implications. Two of these studies focus on vaccine effectiveness and the Novovax protein-based vaccine respectively… both potentially helpful in cases where workers are experiencing vaccine hesitancy for specific reasons. The other study is about the optimal way to manage Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) regimes for return to work. In terms of an evidence-base, it’s still early days for this important screening test; though the paper we covered has a strong recommendation for the most effective use of RATs.

We also summarise an additional worthwhile Harvard Business Review article on return to office resistance. While not a research paper per se, the authors have based their writings and recommendations on decades of research.

We hope this helps you as you navigate each ‘stage’ of this pandemic. Our next issue will look at workplace issues that arise as we move into winter, and COVID-19 moves from pandemic to endemic disease.

 

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COVID Matters Newsletter Edition 2

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There is still so much to grapple with when it comes to COVID-19 and the workplace. Our COVID Matters newsletter edition 02 sees IPAR once again partner with MedHealth and mlcoa to bring you ‘bite size’ summaries of some of the most pertinent research in the medical industry, and in particular what the experts are saying about COVID-19 and its ongoing impact in, and on, the workplaces of Australia.

Please view issue 02 of the COVID Matters newsletter here.

Your COVID coverage

As medical, allied health and occupational health and rehabilitation specialists, the teams at IPAR and mlcoa already provide the types of services that support Australian businesses to make informed decisions and reduce risks, all while improving health and employment outcomes for people.

Please talk with us about the issues you are managing. We’ll either have a service that can support you and your people; or we’ll draw on our diverse capabilities to help you solve any issues and create better outcomes.

Our experts will continue to engage in regular reviews of journal articles and the latest research and thinking around COVID-19. We will bring you summaries of such in future editions of COVID Matters.