Surviving severe COVID-19: Interviews with patients, informal carers and health professionals.
Ana-Carolina Gonçalves, Annabel Williams, Christina Koulouglioti and 7 others
PMID 35561020WHAT IT FOUND
Survivors, relatives and professionals described delayed help, strained hospital communication and slow home recovery after severe COVID-19.
Restricted visits made family contact an added emotional task, and some relatives felt unprepared for discharge.
Key findings
01Relatives described repeated difficulties getting help and felt they received only vague updates from hospital.
02Restricted visiting turned family communication into an added emotionally heavy task for professionals, who tried to use technology to keep contact.
03Home recovery was slow and full of unknowns, with severe shortness of breath, fatigue and psychological trauma.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
All relatives interviewed were female because survivors chose female relatives, so male relatives' views are missing. Only acute hospital professionals were included, not community teams, so it says little about care after handover to community services. The sample was small, 23 participants from five acute hospitals in South-East England, so these experiences may not apply to other settings.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that any communication strategy, debrief or survivorship message improved outcomes. It reports experiences only, not tested effects.