Evaluation framework helps to take steps together towards better care and support for post-COVID patients
Every day, we're committed to helping people with post-COVID-19 symptoms, Q fever, and long-term symptoms after a COVID-XNUMX vaccination. Our work as project organizations is temporary, with the goal of ensuring these patient groups can eventually access regular care and support. But when is that care and support system actually "ready" to take over our patient support?
We believe it's important that good care and support for our patients is also well-organized in the long term. Therefore, Q-support and C-support commissioned EY, an independent organization, to develop an evaluation framework to assess this.
EY developed this evaluation framework based on document research, interviews, and discussions with patients, (healthcare) professionals, and policymakers. It examines the physical, mental, and social impact of the conditions.
The evaluation framework helps in two ways:
- It shows which criteria are important for good care and support for post-infectious conditions. For each component, it can be determined which parties are involved, what still needs to be done to achieve an acceptable level of care and support, and who should take charge.
- It's a tool for continuously monitoring care and support in practice for various patient groups. This allows us to better understand what's going well and where improvements are needed.
We see that much is being done to improve care and support for Q fever patients and post-COVID patients. Initiatives such as a Q fever ambassador, the Post-COVID Network Netherlands, and the Post-COVID expertise clinics are good examples of the decisiveness with which the involved parties have worked together. At the same time, initial desk research shows that many challenges remain. Patients experience daily that the healthcare system and society are not yet properly equipped to deal with their condition.
The evaluation framework isn't meant to point fingers, but rather to facilitate collaborative solutions. It provides us all with the tools to take concrete action on each criterion and implement the high-quality care and support patients so desperately need within the regular healthcare system. In the fall, Q&A and C&A support will engage in discussions with patients, healthcare partners, municipalities, policymakers, and other professionals about how we can use this framework together to ensure high-quality care and support.
