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Welcome to our online peer support community for those impacted by Long COVID. It has been created to provide a safe space for people with experience with Long COVID to connect, share experiences, provide mutual emotional and practical support, identify treatment options, as well as access reliable resources from trustworthy sources.
How does it work?
This is an open online community. Anybody is able to browse through the conversations happening in our online community without formally joining. To participate in the conversations, you will need to create an account. Once you have done this, you can create your own discussion threads or contribute to other peoples'. If you are new to the community, a great place to start is the welcome page where people share their experiences and tell us a bit about themselves.
We want this online community to be an engaging place where people can connect and share about all aspects of their Long COVID journey. That will include the highs, lows and everything in-between.
Community members are also encouraged to share feedback about their experiences during Long COVID, including their broad treatment experiences and any insights into how things could be improved. This can help us work with clinicians, researchers, policy makers and service providers who are seeking to better understand the impacts of Long COVID and to help advocate for appropriate health policy and support services.
Who can join?
This space has been primarily created for anyone affected by Long COVID, either as an individual, as well as carers, family, friends and the broader community. Initially we are focused on building the community in Victoria due to our funding and placement, but anyone in Australia is able to join.
To be part of the community you must be 18 or over and abide by the Community Guidelines.
How is this community different?
We know that there are some wonderful communities on other platforms that have been created for those affected by Long COVID, which have been founded largely by individuals and teams of volunteers.
Our community is a bit different as it has been created as a stand-alone website where people can connect and don’t have to be part of a broader social network. This means that people can be part of the group with some anonymity. The Group is moderated, we highlight stories to ensure a greater understanding about Long COVID in society more broadly, and we work with our community to ensure their experiences are heard by decision-makers.
The site is independently run by Health Issues Centre (HIC), the peak consumer health advocacy body for Victoria.
It is HIC's intention that we continue to engage with consumers to refine the platform and build community engagement. We welcome any feedback you can give us about the site and your experience through our Contact Us form.
Why not join our community today?