What helps recovery
We talked in depth to 10 people who had made a full or partial recovery from long covid. This section describes what we learnt from them.
🧡 What helped people recover
Specialist support. In Calderdale we have an excellent Long Covid clinic, which supported many of the people we interviewed to get better.
Self-management strategies like pacing, rest, and breathing exercises.
Mental health support to address trauma, grief, and anxiety - these issues were really common, whether from a traumatic acute infection, the grief and stresses of developing a life-changing long-term health condition, or sometimes past traumas re-emerging.
Validation, support, and hope from professionals and peers. With a condition that is often stigmatised and misunderstood, being listened to and having our experiences validated was a helpful starting point for recovery.
Gradual, symptom-led re-engagement with physical activity and daily life.
Flexible and supportive employers who enabled people to take the time off work they needed to recover, reviewed job tasks and activities, and provided phased returns.
Medication - different people found that different medications helped them. People mentioned anti-depressants, HRT and inhalers.
❌ What made recovery harder
Lack of awareness by GPs meant that people with Long Covid were not always referred to the Long Covid clinic and did not receive the specialist support available.
Stigma and psychologisation of symptoms - many people said that family, friends and healthcare providers attributed their physiological symptoms to their mental health. This prevented people from getting the support and understanding they needed.
Financial pressures and difficulty accessing benefits. This could mean that people had to go back to work before they were well enough, which made recovery more difficult.
Systemic inequalities in access to support. People from minoritised ethnic communities were not aware of the specialist support available so were less likely to receive it.
Recovery : a fine balance
Recovery from long covid can entail balancing multiple ways of doing things that can seem to oppose or contradict each otehr.
The calibration of the scales changes all the time - there isn’t a ‘right’ balance to guide us. Something that works for us today may not work tomorrow. It’s impossible to get this balance right all the time, and getting it wrong can be frustrating and cause small or big setbacks in our recovery.
We need skilled specialist support to help us find a balance and navigate the ever-changing scales.
Helpful factors in Long Covid recovery
People interviewed for this research identified a range of factors that they believed had helped them recover. They talked about:
Sources of support
Characteristics of support
Tools and techniques
Everyday life
Attitudes and beliefs
Finding meaning and purpose