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Long-Term Health Effects Stemming from COVID-19 and Implications for the Social Security Administration: A Workshop

Completed

Regional focus

North America

Topics

The U.S. Social Security Administration seeks to promote a discussion on the long-term health effects stemming from COVID-19 and the ways in which a prior infection could impact a person's ability to work. The National Academies will host a workshop examining the latest research and findings on this topic as outlined in the project scope.

Description

A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies) will plan and host a 1 to 2-day public workshop that will facilitate a discussion focused on long-term and potentially disabling health effects of COVID-19 infection and survivors’ ability to work. The workshop shall include presentations on the functional outcomes for individuals who have contracted and survived COVID-19, as well as medical advances, developments, and research in this area.
The workshop shall feature invited presentations and panel discussions on topics such as:

  • An overview of ongoing and upcoming research into the long-term effects of COVID-19;
  • How gaps in access to treatment and other racial and ethnic disparities influence health and work outcomes for vulnerable populations;
  • The most commonly observed long-term post-COVID impairments, their frequency, and distribution of duration;
  • Laboratory or other findings showing patterns of pathology and severity associated with specific symptomology, demographics, physical profiles, or certain comorbidities or genetic markers;
  • Patterns of long-term, work-related functional decline observed in adults, their frequency, distribution, and associated signs or laboratory findings;
  • Distinct patterns of long-term functional decline observed in children, their frequency, distribution, and associated signs or laboratory findings;
  • Effect of vaccine administration on the long-term functional effects of COVID-19 and whether this effect varies between socioeconomic or racial and ethnic groups, in particular vulnerable populations, or based on the specific vaccine used or when in relation to COVID infection it was administered;
  • Long term effects on mental health associated with both the virus itself and the societal impacts of the pandemic response and how those effects vary among adults and children;
  • Status of work on describing collections of long-term symptoms as identifiable syndromes (e.g., Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC));
  • Laboratory or other findings demonstrating variations in functional or long-term effects among different strains of the virus;
  • Recent medical advances, promising research, or new technologies that may alter expected functional outcomes in COVID-19 survivors, and potential advances anticipated in the near future;
  • Potential long-term economic and labor effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and how those effects vary with employment sector or the vocational factors of age, education, and work experience.*

The planning committee shall develop the agenda for the workshop sessions, select and invite speakers and discussants, and moderate the discussions. The speakers and discussants shall have the experience and knowledge to speak to the differences experienced by various racial and ethnic populations. A proceeding of the presentations and discussions at the workshop shall be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.
*42 U.S.C. § 423(d)(2)(A) & 42 U.S.C. § 1382c(a)(3)(B).

Contributors

Committee

Chair

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Sponsors

Social Security Administration

Staff

Laura Aiuppa

Lead

Torrie Brown

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