Towards resilience: examining complex and hybridised coping strategies used by NHS workers experiencing long COVID illness.

Adams, Nicholas Norman; MacIver, Emma; Kennedy, Catriona; Douglas, Flora; Skåtun, Diane; Hernandez Santiago, Virginia; Torrance, Nicola; Grant, Aileen

Abstract

NHS workers faced an increased risk of contracting COVID-19 during the pandemic and many now experience long COVID (LC). Over 10,000 NHS workers are estimated absent from work due to LC. LC represents a complex, dynamic and often serious condition, for which exist an unclear case-definition and diagnostic criteria. Common LC symptoms - such as fatigue, brain-fog and breathlessness - are debilitating, unpredictable and can significantly impact life and ability to work. Understanding factors supporting positive coping with LC are important for informing successful workplace supports. This study draws on two phases of longitudinal qualitative interviews, conducted six–months apart, with a range of NHS workers from Scotland with LC (50 interviews at first interview and 44 at follow-up). A structured, mixed inductive-deductive thematic analysis revealed that workers engaged in complex, iterative and multi-faceted strategies to approach coming to terms and coping with LC illness; intertwining processes of "illness work" and "emotional work" to generate novel conceptualisations of resilience. Strategies included: reframing LC as long-lasting but temporary; "accepting" LC recovery as "a journey", with "highs", "lows" and often frequent "setbacks"; and "letting go" of past established (pre-LC) benchmarks of health and wellness. Corbin and Strauss' notions of Illness Trajectory Theory are applied as a sociological framework, to interrogate linkages between participants' reimagining of LC illness and their journeys towards developing coping and resilience. Some meaningful outcomes for structuring workplace supports are presented, drawing on participants' narratives of "what works". Pathways are also spotlighted for advancing theory and further scholarship within this important research domain.

Citation

ADAMS, N.N., MACIVER, E., KENNEDY, C., DOUGLAS, F., SKÅTUN, D., HERNANDEZ SANTIAGO, V., TORRANCE, N. and GRANT, A. 2023. Towards resilience: examining complex and hybridised coping strategies used by NHS workers experiencing long COVID illness. Presented at the 2023 Annual conference of the British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Study Group (BSA MedSoc 2023), 13-15 September 2023, Brighton, UK.

• Presentation Conference Type: Lecture
• Conference Name: 2023 Annual conference of the British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Study Group (BSA MedSoc 2023)
• Conference Location: Brighton, UK
• Start Date: Sep 13, 2023
• End Date: Sep 15, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 18, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 18, 2023
• Keywords: Long COVID; COVID-19; Healthcare workers; Resilience
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2085347