We’ve updated and re-published two guides about occupational therapy and Long Covid.
• Long Covid and adults. A guide for occupational therapists
• Long Covid and children and young people. A guide for occupational therapists
• Long Covid and children and young people. A guide for occupational therapists
The guides explain the unique role of occupational therapists have in supporting adults, children and young people to manage and recover from Long Covid. And, have been developed in collaboration with occupational therapists supporting people with Long Covid across a range of settings and members of Long Covid peer support groups.
These guides are a development on the ones we published in 2021 and have taken into account developments across the health and care profession globally in supporting people with Long Covid.
If you’re an occupational therapist, you can use the guides to inform your practice when working with adults, children and young people with Long Covid in all settings, including Long Covid services and other acute, primary, secondary and community services. The guides are also useful for service managers and commissioners responsible for planning and delivering Long Covid services.
Service managers and commissioners responsible for planning and delivering specialist Long Covid services can use the guides to inform the business case for occupational therapy as part of multi-disciplinary teams addressing Long Covid.
Key messages
• Occupational therapists are essential in enabling people with Long Covid to manage and recover from it’s physical, cognitive, psychological and social impacts.
• Occupational therapy helps people to take part in the activities, roles and routines that are important to them – at home, in education, at work, during their leisure time and in the community.
• Occupation-focused approaches help people to self-manage common symptoms and consequences of Long Covid such as fatigue, cognitive issues, anxiety and depression. These approaches can also help support rehabilitation, where appropriate.
• Occupational therapists enable children and young people affected by Long Covid to access education. They provide information and training for teachers, recommend reasonable adjustments, and facilitate a phased return to school where appropriate.
• Occupational therapists help people to remain in or return to work. They can then use self-advocacy support and advice for adjustments to address individual strengths and needs.
• Occupational therapists should proactively make sure their services are available to everyone, and ensure their approaches meet the diverse needs of all children and young people and families.
• Occupational therapists should access, use and contribute to the evidence-base on Long Covid, to find and apply the intervention approaches that are most effective.
• Occupational therapists should collect, use and share a range of data, to show the impact of occupational therapy and as part of quality improvement.
• Occupational therapists are essential in enabling people with Long Covid to manage and recover from it’s physical, cognitive, psychological and social impacts.
• Occupational therapy helps people to take part in the activities, roles and routines that are important to them – at home, in education, at work, during their leisure time and in the community.
• Occupation-focused approaches help people to self-manage common symptoms and consequences of Long Covid such as fatigue, cognitive issues, anxiety and depression. These approaches can also help support rehabilitation, where appropriate.
• Occupational therapists enable children and young people affected by Long Covid to access education. They provide information and training for teachers, recommend reasonable adjustments, and facilitate a phased return to school where appropriate.
• Occupational therapists help people to remain in or return to work. They can then use self-advocacy support and advice for adjustments to address individual strengths and needs.
• Occupational therapists should proactively make sure their services are available to everyone, and ensure their approaches meet the diverse needs of all children and young people and families.
• Occupational therapists should access, use and contribute to the evidence-base on Long Covid, to find and apply the intervention approaches that are most effective.
• Occupational therapists should collect, use and share a range of data, to show the impact of occupational therapy and as part of quality improvement.
The term Long Covid is preferred by many with lived experience. And so, we use this throughout the guides to describe the signs and symptoms that develop or continue after confirmed or suspected acute COVID-19 infections.
For more information and other resources please visit our Long Covid webpage.