Nutritional support for patients recovering from COVID-19. A consensus process with health and social care sector representatives

Background: COVID-19 infection presents with highly variable symptoms that can affect nutritional status. Therefore, diet plays a role in the treatment and recovery from COVID-19. For patients with long-COVID recovery may take months or years, which has a major impact on patients' everyday life and puts pressure on health and social care services. The aim was to map out the support available and guide decision-making in the nutrition and dietary aspects of care for adult patients recovering from COVID-19. Methods: Due to lockdown restrictions we adapted Nominal Group Technique to collect data from two virtual expert panels of patients and healthcare professionals. Information for silent generation was e-mailed to participants ahead of Zoom meetings;a whiteboard functionality replaced a flip chart, and Mentimeter was used for anonymous voting and ranking of ideas. We held a total of six meetings, collected votes from each panel and thematically analysed final discussions held among both panels. Results: Professionals spoke about a lack of awareness and resources to address dietary issues. Patients felt that optimal nutritional intake would be an important part of recovery, but struggled to identify reliable sources of information. Healthcare professionals were not able to provide the information they desired. Both groups recognised that support for nutritional care may need to be provided by non-professionals. There is a need to identify and train these people. Both groups stated that improvements were necessary in health services for people with long-COVID in relation to nutrition and that since COVID-19 presents with highly variable symptoms and severity, a highly flexible and adaptable resource would be needed. Conclusion: We have developed a virtual knowledge hub to provide appraised and updated information mapping out nutritional support for COVID-19 recovery. This demonstrates a strategic approach to address the current crisis and future problems from a nutritional perspective.