{"title":"Holding the hope? Therapist and client perspectives on long COVID recovery: A Q-methodology","authors":"William Burton-Fisher, Kim Gordon","doi":"10.1111/bjhp.12724","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div>\n \n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Purpose</h3>\n \n <p>Long COVID is a global health concern which has debilitating effects on the individual experiencing it. In the United Kingdom, psychological therapies are being offered to people with long COVID, although the evidence for these therapies is yet to be demonstrated. This research aimed to understand how therapists and clients define and understand recovery from long COVID, and use hope theory to interpret the results.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Methods</h3>\n \n <p>An online Q-methodology was employed, where participants sorted a range of statements pertaining to long COVID recovery based on their level of agreement with them. These arranged statements (Q-sorts) were collated and factor analysed to explore and compare underlying perspectives.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Results</h3>\n \n <p>Sixteen participants were recruited for the study, including eleven clients, four IAPT therapists and one therapist working in the broader long COVID pathway. A four-factor model is reported, including (1) <i>Psychological Pathways to Recovery</i>, (2) <i>Social Context and Agency</i>, (3) <i>Physiological Goals of Recovery</i> and (4) <i>Personal Meaning Making</i>. All IAPT therapists loaded onto the psychological pathways factor, whereas the remaining participants shared more diverse perspectives.</p>\n </section>\n \n <section>\n \n <h3> Conclusions</h3>\n \n <p>The belief that long COVID recovery was possible, taken as an indicator of hopefulness, was rated highest for Factor 1, <i>Psychological Pathways to Recovery</i>, and Factor 3, <i>Physiological Recovery Goals</i>. This suggested that having a clear definition of recovery, or clear guidance on how to intervene, promoted hopefulness and, theoretically, well-being. However, clients reported experiences of being invalidated and disbelieved by health professionals, with psychological explanations sometimes being experienced as dismissive and invalidating. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed.</p>\n </section>\n </div>","PeriodicalId":48161,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Health Psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/bjhp.12724","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"British Journal of Health Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjhp.12724","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
Long COVID is a global health concern which has debilitating effects on the individual experiencing it. In the United Kingdom, psychological therapies are being offered to people with long COVID, although the evidence for these therapies is yet to be demonstrated. This research aimed to understand how therapists and clients define and understand recovery from long COVID, and use hope theory to interpret the results.
Methods
An online Q-methodology was employed, where participants sorted a range of statements pertaining to long COVID recovery based on their level of agreement with them. These arranged statements (Q-sorts) were collated and factor analysed to explore and compare underlying perspectives.
Results
Sixteen participants were recruited for the study, including eleven clients, four IAPT therapists and one therapist working in the broader long COVID pathway. A four-factor model is reported, including (1) Psychological Pathways to Recovery, (2) Social Context and Agency, (3) Physiological Goals of Recovery and (4) Personal Meaning Making. All IAPT therapists loaded onto the psychological pathways factor, whereas the remaining participants shared more diverse perspectives.
Conclusions
The belief that long COVID recovery was possible, taken as an indicator of hopefulness, was rated highest for Factor 1, Psychological Pathways to Recovery, and Factor 3, Physiological Recovery Goals. This suggested that having a clear definition of recovery, or clear guidance on how to intervene, promoted hopefulness and, theoretically, well-being. However, clients reported experiences of being invalidated and disbelieved by health professionals, with psychological explanations sometimes being experienced as dismissive and invalidating. Clinical implications and future research directions are discussed.
期刊介绍:
The focus of the British Journal of Health Psychology is to publish original research on various aspects of psychology that are related to health, health-related behavior, and illness throughout a person's life. The journal specifically seeks articles that are based on health psychology theory or discuss theoretical matters within the field.