Long COVID Care
Long COVID Care is a peer support group incorporating yoga therapy to support health and recovery.
It offers local weekly support group meetings (online) with others who understand the challenges of Long COVID. People in the group share their own experiences to help others in the many aspects that Long COVID affects, from ability to work to family life to the day-to-day challenges of fatigue. Having Long COVID can be very isolating and one aim of the group is to reduce isolation and use shared expereince to support each other.
The meetings include a yoga-based practice such as focus on breath to restore healthy functional breathing, relaxation practice, paced yoga incorporating breath awareness and meditative practice which are designed to promote health and recovery. These recorded practices are accessible for use outside of the weekly meetings. 1-to-1 sessions provide time and focus on individual symptoms and factors. These sessions support individuals to consider in detail how to best manage their health and what the next step for them may be.
This project was started with funding from Amersham & Villages Community Board and Sport England and Leap
Aims of the Long COVID Care Group:-
To establish a group building peer-support; to gain the benefits of support and to reduce feelings of isolation.
To allow individuals to experience or consider how actions and activities, including mind-body activities practised in the sessions, affect them and their health.
To encourage individuals in a suitable personal way, to be active participants in their self-care for health and recovery. This used a process of experience, observation,
reflection and adjustment. Information and resources were provided for use outside of the meetings and whenever needed by participants. Individual sessions were
provided for personal, specific support in making decisions about self-management, defining next steps or making change
Results
Questionnaires showed that 100% participants rated the Long COVID Care group as very good.
100% of participants reported that the peer-support meetings provided them with benefits in feeling supported and less isolated.
100% of participants reported that the meetings and resources allowed them to experience and consider the actions and activities that positively affect them and their health.
100% of participants reported that the Long COVID Care group and resources allowed them to feel better equipped to manage their health and make the right decisions for them and their health.
How do I know if I have Long COVID? Long COVID is COVID symptoms lasting longer than 12 weeks.
Symptoms are extremely wide-ranging and fluctuating, and can include breathlessness, chronic fatigue, “brain fog”, anxiety and stress. You should speak with your GP about your symptoms to assess them and your health. It is difficult to diagnose Long COVID and it maybe that other conditions are ruled out before the conclusion of Long COVID is reached. Not everyone receives a firm diagnosis of Long COVID.
Long COVID Care Group
Long COVID Care encourages people whose heakth has been affected by COVID-19 or who have Long COVID (with or without a diagnosis) to come together to find a supportive place to talk.
The group look at how they are, concerns affecting them and where it’s possible, look at ways of managing or resolving these concerns. Experiences and advice can be shared that helps others. It’s hard for family, friends and employers to fully understand the challenges and complex nature of a fatigue condition and there has been relatively little information on Long COVID, although the last ONS report (March 2023) identified that 2.9% of the population have on-going symptoms after contracting COVID.
The group look at ways of managing and promoting health and assisting recovery from Long COVID, uisng rest and pacing, calming the autonomic nervous system, using yoga based practice for physical and mental wellbeing, considering nutrition and immune system support, factors influencing mindset and ways of tapping into support external to the group as well as supporting each other.
Using Yoga for Health
Each group meeting includes a short yoga-based practice with the aim of supporting health and recovery. These cover practising relaxation, breath awareness to help health, gentle yoga, fatigue management tools, dealing with stress and stress symptoms and adjusting routine to support health and self-care.
In the initial project stage, each person was offered two half hour individual meetings to provide personal support, to look at using the practice tools and to look at what next step they could take or to assess how best to manage their health day-to-day and make suitable and do-able changes.
If you have developed symptoms after COVID and have Long COVID (diagnosis not required) and would like to attend this supportive group,
contact Barbara at barbaradancer@gmail.com
The weekly meetings are currently free to attend and are on on Mondays between 11am-12.15pm.
There is a charge for 1-2-1 sessions. If further funding is secured, these may be provided at minimal cost or no cost.
For futher information about joining, please contact me at barbaradancer@gmail.com
