Coping with Stressful Life Disruptions due to Long COVID: A Qualitative Study

Study Materials for the project "Coping with Stressful Life Disruptions due to Long COVID: A Qualitative Study" funded by Canadian institutes of health research. The aim of this project was to explore the stressful disruptions experienced by PWLC and caregivers, their impact, and how PWLC and caregivers respond to and cope with them. A qualitative descriptive approach was employed to represent data in the participants’ own words as they made sense of their lived experiences, thereby making results more meaningful and relevant for justifying actionable change. In total, we interviewed 67 participants (n=52 PWLC and n=15 caregivers). Of note, two of the PWLC also reported being a caregiver to someone else that had long COVID. Three key themes were identified: (1) Disruptions in people with long COVID and caregivers’ lives are characterized by a deviation from their perceived ‘normalcy’, (2) Disruptions lead to substantial stress, loss and grief (independence, agency, meaning, and purpose), and (3) People with long COVID and caregivers cope with stressful disruptions by adapting their daily activities. Our findings make the case for supportive rehabilitation strategies that address the psychosocial repercussions of long COVID to help mitigate feelings of loss and grief, thereby increasing individuals’ overall quality of life and well-being.