A resource for GPs on managing Long COVID in adults has just been published by a team at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, led by epidemiologist Dr Mona Jeffreys, and funded by the Health Research Council of NZ.
Who made it and how: It wasn’t written top-down — it was co-designed with people who actually live with Long COVID, using a Stanford design-thinking process that treated patients and researchers as equal partners. The team ran workshops around the country gathering lived experience from people with Long COVID and their whānau about their care journeys, then used that to shape the guidance GPs receive.
What’s in it: A one-page visual overview for diagnosing and managing Long COVID in adults, with clickable links to more detailed guidance, plus a companion PDF of further readings and resources that the university plans to keep updated over time.
Why it matters for our members: The research behind it confirmed what many of our members already know from experience — medical dismissal, symptoms being framed as psychological, delayed diagnosis, and fragmented care pathways are common, forcing people to self-advocate with limited energy. Because patients helped shape the final resource, it explicitly:
- Emphasises pacing, validation, and partnership with the patient
- Frames mental distress as a consequence of Long COVID, not its cause
- Warns GPs against graded exercise therapy for anyone with post-exertional malaise (PEM)
- States there’s no evidence “brain retraining” treats a physical condition
- Recognises the overlap with ME/CFS while acknowledging other systems/symptoms are also involved
This matters because it’s a tool our members can point their own GP toward — it gives clinical weight to things people with Long COVID have been saying for years, and pushes back on outdated advice (like GET) that can cause harm.
Where to find it: The resource and related outputs are hosted on the Victoria University of Wellington website,
