Relying on the French territorial offer of thermal spa therapies to build a care pathway for long COVID-19 patients

by Milhan Chaze, Laurent Mériade, Corinne Rochette, Mélina Bailly, Rea Bingula, Christelle Blavignac, Martine Duclos, Bertrand Evrard, Anne Cécile Fournier, Lena Pelissier, David Thivel, on behalf of CAUVIM-19 Group

Work on long COVID-19 has mainly focused on clinical care in hospitals. Thermal spa therapies represent a therapeutic offer outside of health care institutions that are nationally or even internationally attractive. Unlike local care (hospital care, general medicine, para-medical care), their integration in the care pathways of long COVID-19 patients seems little studied. The aim of this article is to determine what place french thermal spa therapies can take in the care pathway of long COVID-19 patients.

Based on the case of France, we carry out a geographic mapping analysis of the potential care pathways for long COVID-19 patients by cross-referencing, over the period 2020–2022, the available official data on COVID-19 contamination, hospitalisations in intensive care units and the national offer of spa treatments. This first analysis allows us, by using the method for evaluating the attractiveness of an area defined by David Huff, to evaluate the accessibility of each French department to thermal spas.

Using dynamic geographical mapping, this study describes two essential criteria for the integration of the thermal spa therapies offer in the care pathways of long COVID-19 patients (attractiveness of spa areas and accessibility to thermal spas) and three fundamental elements for the success of these pathways (continuity of the care pathways; clinical collaborations; adaptation of the financing modalities to each patient). Using a spatial attractiveness method, we make this type of geographical analysis more dynamic by showing the extent to which a thermal spa is accessible to long COVID-19 patients.

Based on the example of the French spa offer, this study makes it possible to place the care pathways of long COVID-19 patients in a wider area (at least national), rather than limiting them to clinical and local management in a hospital setting. The identification and operationalization of two geographical criteria for integrating a type of treatment such as a spa cure into a care pathway contributes to a finer conceptualization of the construction of healthcare pathways.

The current state of knowledge on care for co‐occurring chronic pain and opioid use disorder: A scoping review

Abstract

Background and Aims

Opioid use disorder often co-occurs with chronic pain but assessment and treatment of these co-occurring disorders is complex. This review aims to identify current treatments and delivery models for co-occurring chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD) documented in the scientific literature.

Design

Scoping review.

Methods

The review was conducted in six databases in June 2022 (no time limit): CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane, PubMed and Embase. The PRISMA-ScR checklist was used to guide reporting.

Results

Forty-seven publications addressing the issue of co-occurring chronic pain and OUD management were included. Randomized controlled trials provide evidence for the effectiveness of opioid agonist treatments (OAT) such as methadone or buprenorphine/naloxone, as well as for combining OAT with Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement or cognitive behavioural therapy. A number of other pharmacological treatments (opioid and nonopioid), nonpharmacological treatments (e.g. physiotherapy) and service delivery models (e.g. simultaneous treatment of comorbidities, interdisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration) are also underlined. In most cases, authors recommend a combination of strategies to meet patient needs.

Conclusions

The scoping review reveals gaps in evidence-based knowledge to effectively care for co-occurring chronic pain and OUD, but several experts recommend the uptake of known ‘best’ practices such as integrated treatment of the multiple biopsychosocial dimensions of the co-occurring disorders as well as collaborative interdisciplinary work.

Clinical Relevance

Improving services is dependent on alleviating barriers such as working in silos, the costs associated with nonpharmacological treatments, and the double stigma associated with pain in people with a substance use disorder.