MacEwan Sarah R, Rahurkar Saurabh, Tarver Willi L, Eiterman Leanna Perez, Melnyk Halia, Olvera Ramona G, Eramo Jennifer L, Teuschler Lauren, Gaughan Alice A, Rush Laura J, Stanwick Stacy, Burpee Susan Bowman, McConnell Erin, Schamess Andrew, McAlearney Ann Scheck
Division of General Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST), College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Apr;40(5):1070-1077. doi: 10.1007/s11606-024-09062-5. Epub 2024 Oct 8.
Exploring the experiences of Long COVID patients who face challenges with employment may inform improvements in how healthcare systems can provide holistic care for this patient population.
Understand perspectives about the impact of Long COVID on employment and well-being among patients seeking healthcare for Long COVID.
Qualitative study involving one-on-one interviews.
Eligible participants were 18 years of age or older, spoke English, self-reported as doing well in daily life before having COVID-19, and reported that COVID-19 was still having a significant impact on their life three or more months following an acute infection.
Participants were recruited from a post-COVID recovery clinic at an academic medical center. Interviews were conducted from August to September 2022.
Among all participants (N = 21), most described that they were not able to work at a capacity equivalent to their norm pre-COVID-19. For those who continued working after their COVID-19 infection, the effort and energy required for work left little capacity to participate in other life activities and made it difficult to attend recommended healthcare appointments. Participants reported financial impacts of changes in employment including loss of income and changes in insurance, which were compounded by high healthcare costs. Changes in employment resulted in emotional repercussions including feelings of loss of self-identity and fear of judgement at work. Participants discussed issues surrounding access to strategies to address challenges posed by the impact of Long COVID on employment, including strategies learned from healthcare providers to cope with Long COVID symptoms at work and efforts to seek disability benefits or workplace accommodations.
Patients with Long COVID may face significant challenges due to changes in their ability to work. Healthcare providers can support these patients by connecting them to financial assistance resources, facilitating appropriate mental health treatment, and expediting workplace accommodation requests.
探究长期新冠患者在就业方面面临挑战的经历，可能会为医疗系统如何为这一患者群体提供全面护理的改进提供参考。
了解长期新冠患者在寻求医疗护理时，对于长期新冠对就业和幸福感影响的看法。
采用一对一访谈的定性研究。
符合条件的参与者年龄在18岁及以上，会说英语，自我报告在感染新冠之前日常生活状况良好，并且报告称在急性感染后的三个月或更长时间里，新冠仍对其生活有重大影响。
参与者从一家学术医疗中心的新冠康复诊所招募。访谈于2022年8月至9月进行。
在所有参与者（N = 21）中，大多数人表示他们无法像感染新冠之前那样正常工作。对于那些在感染新冠后仍继续工作的人来说，工作所需的努力和精力使他们几乎没有精力参与其他生活活动，也难以参加推荐的医疗预约。参与者报告了就业变化带来的经济影响，包括收入损失和保险变更，而高昂的医疗费用使情况更加复杂。就业变化还导致了情绪上的影响，包括自我认同感的丧失和对工作中他人评判的恐惧。参与者讨论了围绕获取应对长期新冠对就业影响所带来挑战的策略问题，包括从医疗服务提供者那里学到的在工作中应对长期新冠症状的策略，以及寻求残疾福利或工作场所便利的努力。
长期新冠患者可能因工作能力的变化而面临重大挑战。医疗服务提供者可以通过将他们与经济援助资源联系起来、促进适当的心理健康治疗以及加快工作场所便利请求的处理来支持这些患者。
