CAN-PCC Guidelines and Good Practice Statements
Post COVID-19 condition is a complex health condition that presents with a spectrum of symptoms and impact on daily life.This is why health professionals, people with lived experience, and other experts are working together to create the Canadian Guidelines for post COVID-19 condition (CAN-PCC). The CAN-PCC guidelines use the term post COVID-19 condition to be consistent with the Public Health Agency of Canada and the World Health Organization. Post COVID-19 Condition is also known as “long COVID”, “long-haul COVID”, or “chronic COVID”.
To develop specific and trustworthy recommendations, the CAN-PCC guideline collaborative must gather best available evidence and follow rigorous processes (see the Resources section on our website for the characteristics of trustworthy guidelines). In addition to recommendations, guidelines can include a limited number of “good practice statements” that are offered in exceptional circumstances. Good practice statements also require rigorous development, but the process to develop them is faster. The CAN-PCC guideline collaborative felt it was important to promptly develop and share such advice to inform affected people, health care professionals, public health officials, and policy makers. The CAN-PCC guideline collaborative has developed an initial set of 11 good practice statements that cover different topics related to post COVID-19 condition.
A “good practice statement” describes a type of action that is necessary in practice for which the guideline group is confident that the desirable consequences clearly outweigh the undesirable consequences, systematically collecting and summarizing the direct evidence is a poor use of the group’s time, and there is a well-documented clear rationale for the available supporting evidence.
For more detailed information on what good practice statements are and how they are developed, please see the Our Approach and Resources sections on our website.
The CAN-PCC collaborative anticipates that there may not be many additional good practice statements, because comprehensive analysis of existing knowledge and consultation will be required to provide its evidence-based recommendations.
Good Practice Statements and Recommendations
What is a Good Practice Statement?
Omar Dewidar, Medical Student at the University of Toronto, and Research Methodologist at the Bruyère Research Institute explains what Good Practice Statements are, and how they’re used in the guideline development process.