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PM&R's Response to COVID-19

Advocacy

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AAPM&R Collaborations and Partnerships

AAPM&R is working to ensure PM&R is part of the national conversation about healthcare amidst COVID-19 and advocating for the federal support, legislation, regulation relief and resources that physiatrists need now.

Long COVID Education, Engagement, and Care Management

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) received supplemental funding to improve clinician education and engagement in the care of patients with Long COVID from the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Long COVID Research and Practice in partnership with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Academy is working with CMSS on this grant.

HHS Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Long COVID

Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD, FAAPMR, has been appointed to the HHS Secretary Advisory Committee on Long COVID. This committee will inform action of the Executive Branch on Long COVID and associated conditions, with a focus on health equity, by providing recommendations to the Secretary through the Assistant Secretary for Health.

NASEM Workgroup on Examining the Working Definition for Long COVID

Monica Verduzco-Gutierrez, MD, FAAPMR, is participating on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee that is examining and recommending a new definition for Long COVID.  

AHRQ COVID-19 Research Grants

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), announced the approval of 28 research grants designed to explore essential questions about the delivery of healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Check out the Academy's advocacy for this funding. 

Stay Up-to-Date

AAPM&R Long COVID Mental Health Guidance Statement Released

Nov 08, 2023
Today, we announced new guidance for diagnosing and treating common mental health symptoms of Long COVID. The statement was developed by AAPM&R's PASC Collaborative, our multidisciplinary group of physicians, clinicians and patient advocates convened to address the pressing need for guidance in caring for patients with Long COVID.
 
Many patients have described being questioned about their Long COVID-related symptoms in a way that feels dismissive of their experience and/or mistakenly attributed to an underlying mental health condition. Long COVID-related mental health symptoms include depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD. The COVID-19 pandemic caused or exacerbated these symptoms in some people, but these same conditions can also be a physiological symptom of Long COVID.

“There really is some nuance in looking at the mental health symptoms of Long COVID because Long COVID symptoms that are related to mental health can also exacerbate or mimic other symptoms of Long COVID, such as fatigue, brain fog, and sleep disturbances,” said Abby Cheng, MD, FAAPMR, author of the guidance.
 
Underserved, underinsured and underrepresented patients tend to have a higher prevalence of many medical conditions, including mental health conditions before COVID and mental health symptoms related to Long COVID.
 

Traditional nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic mental health treatments, such as SSRIs, should be considered in tandem for treating mental health symptoms of Long COVID. Medication should be prescribed after considering comorbidities and other Long COVID symptoms. Some Long COVID symptoms may be worsened by the common side effects of some SSRI medications; however, the side effects could benefit other symptoms of Long COVID.

Supporting today's release of the mental health guidance statement, we organized an exciting and successful media roundtable with 15+ reporters from national news outlets, such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA TODAY, CNN, ABC and more. Thank you to Steven Flanagan, MD, FAAPMR, AAPM&R President, and co-authors of the mental health guidance statement Abby Cheng, MD, FAAPMR and Monica Verduzco–Gutierrez, MD, FAAPMR, who discussed the guidance in detail with reporters.

These statements are part of a multidisciplinary collaborative consensus guidance series for the most predominant Long COVID symptoms, published in AAPM&R's PM&R Journal. The first consensus guidance on fatigue was released in August 2021, followed by guidance on breathing discomfort and cognitive symptoms in December 2021, cardiovascular complications in June 2022, pediatrics and autonomic dysfunction in September 2022 and neurological symptoms in May 2023.
 

Please join us in sharing this guidance with your physician colleagues to support patients. Learn more.