Vocational rehabilitation for Long Covid: a roadmap for recovery
Parkin, A; Rayner, C; Mir, G; O'Connor, R J
Academic Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
National Demonstration Centre in Rehabilitation, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
Person with Long COVID, LOCOMOTION Patient Advisory Group Co-Lead, Leeds, UK
The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK
KEY LEARNING POINTS
What is already known about this subject:
• Long Covid symptoms are real. Psychological distress can disrupt the immune system and cause chronic inflammation, but Long Covid is not a psychological illness, and such explanations of physical symptoms can be experienced as stigmatizing.
• People are continuing to experience Long Covid, with unknown rates due to the withdrawal of free testing and cessation of national data collection.
• Long Covid can substantially impair people’s ability to return to work, and sustain their work on a longer-term basis, with financial consequences at individual, employer and societal levels.
What this commentary adds:
• Our work investigated the enablers and obstacles to returning to work with Long Covid, from the perspective of patients, therapists working in rehabilitation services, employers and employment specialists.
• A roadmap resource has been developed to address many people’s experience of multiple poorly planned return-towork attempts and inadequate adjustments.
What impact this may have on practice, policy or procedure:
• Occupational health professionals have a key contribution in managing the return to work process for patients with energy-limiting illnesses such as Long Covid, and act as a bridge between multiple stakeholders.
• This first Long-Covid-specific work roadmap provides a clear guide for assessing readiness to work, planning a return to work and supporting patients to safely remain in work by pre-emptively avoiding common pitfalls.
Link | PDF (Occupational Medicine)
Parkin, A; Rayner, C; Mir, G; O'Connor, R J
Academic Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
National Demonstration Centre in Rehabilitation, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Leeds, UK
Person with Long COVID, LOCOMOTION Patient Advisory Group Co-Lead, Leeds, UK
The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK
KEY LEARNING POINTS
What is already known about this subject:
• Long Covid symptoms are real. Psychological distress can disrupt the immune system and cause chronic inflammation, but Long Covid is not a psychological illness, and such explanations of physical symptoms can be experienced as stigmatizing.
• People are continuing to experience Long Covid, with unknown rates due to the withdrawal of free testing and cessation of national data collection.
• Long Covid can substantially impair people’s ability to return to work, and sustain their work on a longer-term basis, with financial consequences at individual, employer and societal levels.
What this commentary adds:
• Our work investigated the enablers and obstacles to returning to work with Long Covid, from the perspective of patients, therapists working in rehabilitation services, employers and employment specialists.
• A roadmap resource has been developed to address many people’s experience of multiple poorly planned return-towork attempts and inadequate adjustments.
What impact this may have on practice, policy or procedure:
• Occupational health professionals have a key contribution in managing the return to work process for patients with energy-limiting illnesses such as Long Covid, and act as a bridge between multiple stakeholders.
• This first Long-Covid-specific work roadmap provides a clear guide for assessing readiness to work, planning a return to work and supporting patients to safely remain in work by pre-emptively avoiding common pitfalls.
Link | PDF (Occupational Medicine)
