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Event

Co-development and deployment of a digital self-management intervention for Long COVID: a rapid, patient-led response to a global public health crisis

When

Wednesday 20 November 2024

1pm - 2pm

Cost

Free

Where

B001, Business School

Organiser

Psychology

Edge Hill students on campus walking past the Law and Psychology building.

In this talk, we describe the co-development and initial testing of a digital intervention combining peer support with positive psychology approaches for self-managing the physical, emotional, psychological, and cognitive challenges associated with Long COVID.

About this research

Background

Over two million people in the UK are living with the psychological, physical and cognitive consequences of Long COVID. In the early days of the pandemic, people with Long COVID started their own virtual support groups. This peer support model is a natural phenomenon that occurs in most communities, when groups of people are going through the same difficult situation.

Commonly reported symptoms of Long COVID include fatigue, loss of smell, breathlessness, and difficulty concentrating – also known as ‘brain fog’. Mental wellbeing can also be impacted through the distress of living with a long-term health condition. Self-management strategies such as pacing, prioritisation, and goal setting are vital for the self-management of many Long COVID symptoms.

Methods

The study employed a pre-post, mixed methods, pragmatic, uncontrolled design. The digital intervention content was co-developed with patients to meet the needs identified during the intervention development and logic mapping phase. The resulting 8-week digital intervention – Hope Programme for Long COVID – was attended by 47 participants, who completed pre- and post-programme measures of wellbeing, self-efficacy, fatigue and loneliness.

Results

Positive mental wellbeing (mean difference 6.5, p<.001) and self-efficacy (mean difference 1.1, p=.009) improved from baseline to post-course. Goal-setting most frequently related to activity strategies, followed by health behaviour and internal strategies.

Conclusions

At a time when medical understanding of Long COVID was limited, we co-developed an 8-week, digital, self-management intervention to provide patients with tools and strategies to self-manage their own symptoms. The programme was well-attended and follow up rates were encouraging. The sample characteristics largely mirrored those of the wider UK population living with Long COVID, and preliminary data showed improvements in self-efficacy and positive mental wellbeing.

Speakers

Who is this event for?

Current students Everyone