Return to work of people with Post-COVID Condition: A health equity project (RTWHE)

Result

In the first part of the study, 25 participants (experts, people with Post-Covid Condition, and healthcare professionals) sorted social determinants of health based on how much they thought they were influencing the return to work.

The study found the following factors to make RTW easier:

• Flexible working conditions
• Good access to healthcare and basic services
• Feeling safe around other people
• Taking part in leisure activities
• Support from professionals and employers

The research team then interviewed 7 women and 4 men with a diagnosis of Long-Covid, who had experienced the return to work (RTW) process.

We identified four main themes that shape the experience of returning to work:

• Transforming the self amid Long Covid: Participants experienced profound changes in their occupational identity, from a loss to a reshaping of their idea of work and their identity as a working person.
• Being sidelined in one’s social world: Living with an invisible illness  shaped others’ perceptions of them and affected their participation at work and in private life.
• Negotiating the process of RTW at the workplace: Defining factors for the RTW process were the flexibility, support and accommodations experienced at the workplace.
• Navigating the fragmented support structures: Participants described significant difficulties navigating fragmented and often unfamiliar support systems spanning healthcare, workplace services, and social security. Many felt they carried the full burden of coordinating their own care and social security.

The results implicate that:

• Social privileges influence how successful people are in RTW
• People with PCC sometimes feel that professionals do not take them seriously
• RTW is more than just work performance – social participation and quality of life are also decisive

A community flyer was developed together with experts, people with post-COVID condition, and professionals in a workshop. With their feedback, the flyer was improved and further developed. The flyer can be found in the link section below. 

Description

Project Goals

This interprofessional project focuses on investigating health equity concerns for people with Post-COVID condition who are returning to work in the Swiss context. The project has three objectives:

1. Conduct a mixed method study to identify social determinants of health that affect people with Post-COVID Condition as they return to work.
2. Organize a continuing development workshop for health care workers, social welfare professionals, and persons with Post-COVID Condition about health equity matters concerning people with Post-COVID Condition and their return to work process.
3. Generate an easily accessible flyer for the community regarding issues on health equity specific to people with Post-COVID Condition, practical solutions and resources.

Key data

Further documents and links