# Advancing Long COVID Care in our Community through Access, Equity, and Collaboration

> **NIH AHRQ U18** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $931,222

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Long COVID manifests differently for each person and can contribute to disabling, life-changing symptoms
such as extreme fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, breathing difficulty, and autonomic dysfunction in people across
the age spectrum, including in people who were previously healthy and in people who had minimal or no
symptoms associated with acute COVID-19 infection. Multidisciplinary Long COVID clinics were a mainstay of
patient support during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, but as the pandemic is shifting to a new
phase, care models must also evolve in order to meet the complex medical, rehabilitative, and social needs of
the continually growing number of people who are affected by Long COVID. The purpose of this project is to
transform an existing, university-based Long COVID clinic into a broader Long COVID community network in
order to expand equitable access to care, improve the patient care experience, and support primary care
practitioners. This project will invest in two particularly underserved populations: 1) the Black community in St.
Louis, Missouri, which is a historically mistreated population who continues to be marginalized by previously
sanctioned segregation practices; and 2) rural communities across Missouri. Aim 1 is to expand equitable
access to Long COVID care by: 1) building clinical capacity, and 2) removing structural barriers to care. This
will be accomplished by: 1) hiring additional clinicians for the Long COVID Clinic in order to reduce wait times;
and 2) removing patient requirements for clinic evaluation that disproportionately affect underserved
populations. Aim 2 is to improve the Long COVID care experience by: 1) streamlining care that crosses
multiple disciplines and physical care sites, and 2) supporting patients’ social needs. This will be accomplished
by: 1) supporting a clinical case manager to directly assist patients with coordinating medical care and
connecting with community resources, and 2) iteratively assessing and addressing referral challenges between
clinics. Aim 3 is to support primary care teams as they care for patients with Long COVID by co-creating: 1)
educational resources for PCPs, and 2) streamlined communication and referral pathways between PCPs and
specialty clinicians. This will be accomplished by engaging multiple key stakeholders to: 1) develop multi-
modality educational materials related to Long COVID patient assessment and management; 2) disseminate
materials via culturally and logistically preferred approaches (including via established, trusted community
intermediaries and via an established ECHO (Enhanced for Community Healthcare Outcomes) virtual
educational infrastructure); and 3) refine existing handoff processes to minimize the administrative workload on
PCP teams and facilitate their ability to meet patients’ needs. Continuous stakeholder input, comprehensive
data tracking, and iterative needs assessments using mixed methods approache...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10932321
- **Project number:** 5U18HS029911-02
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Abby Ling-Lee Cheng
- **Activity code:** U18 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** AHRQ
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $931,222
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-30 → 2028-09-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10932321

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10932321, Advancing Long COVID Care in our Community through Access, Equity, and Collaboration (5U18HS029911-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10932321. Licensed CC0.

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