Online support groups, social identity, and the health and wellbeing of adults with Long Covid: An interview study

Fuente: Wiley Open Access
Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Freya Mills, John Drury, Charles Symons, Dale Weston, Richard Amlôt, Holly Carter
Formato: Artículo Open Access
Publicado: Wiley 2024
Materias:
Acceso en línea:
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
_version_ 1867009653125152768
author Freya Mills
John Drury
Charles Symons
Dale Weston
Richard Amlôt
Holly Carter
author_facet Freya Mills
John Drury
Charles Symons
Dale Weston
Richard Amlôt
Holly Carter
Freya Mills
John Drury
Charles Symons
Dale Weston
Richard Amlôt
Holly Carter
collection Wiley Open Access
contents Online support groups, social identity, and the health and wellbeing of adults with Long Covid: An interview study Freya Mills John Drury Charles Symons Dale Weston Richard Amlôt Holly Carter Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology AbstractAs many individuals with Long Covid are left without formal support, they have turned to online support groups for help. In a pre‐registered study, interviews were carried out with 21 adults with Long Covid to explore experiences of using online support groups, to understand whether participants felt these experiences influenced their health and wellbeing, and to identify whether group members developed a shared social identity. The reported benefits varied by the nature and size of the online support group: participants reported that smaller groups enabled a sense of community; occupation groups provided work‐specific support; and larger groups helped with symptom management. Interviewees reported that support groups validated members' experiences, made them feel less alone, and enhanced self‐efficacy by providing and offering support and enabling participants to learn new skills. However, negative outcomes were also reported, such as increased fear and reduced wellbeing. Shared identities developed based on mutual Long Covid experiences, shared values towards illness management, and pre‐existing identities. Reported experiences also varied between online support group size (large vs small); type (e.g., advocacy‐focused, yoga‐based, local or international); and platform (video‐ vs text‐based) and throughout the illness. Whilst this study recognises the necessity of medical treatment for Long Covid, we also recommended that individuals with Long Covid explore different support groups to find the most suitable group for them in terms of preferred group features, values towards illness management and enablement of social identities. 10.1002/casp.2849 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
doi_str_mv 10.1002/casp.2849
format Artículo Open Access
id wiley_oa_10_1002_casp_2849
institution Wiley Open Access
license_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
publishDate 2024
publisher Wiley
record_format wiley_oa
spellingShingle Online support groups, social identity, and the health and wellbeing of adults with Long Covid: An interview study
Freya Mills
John Drury
Charles Symons
Dale Weston
Richard Amlôt
Holly Carter
Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology
Online support groups, social identity, and the health and wellbeing of adults with Long Covid: An interview study Freya Mills John Drury Charles Symons Dale Weston Richard Amlôt Holly Carter Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology AbstractAs many individuals with Long Covid are left without formal support, they have turned to online support groups for help. In a pre‐registered study, interviews were carried out with 21 adults with Long Covid to explore experiences of using online support groups, to understand whether participants felt these experiences influenced their health and wellbeing, and to identify whether group members developed a shared social identity. The reported benefits varied by the nature and size of the online support group: participants reported that smaller groups enabled a sense of community; occupation groups provided work‐specific support; and larger groups helped with symptom management. Interviewees reported that support groups validated members' experiences, made them feel less alone, and enhanced self‐efficacy by providing and offering support and enabling participants to learn new skills. However, negative outcomes were also reported, such as increased fear and reduced wellbeing. Shared identities developed based on mutual Long Covid experiences, shared values towards illness management, and pre‐existing identities. Reported experiences also varied between online support group size (large vs small); type (e.g., advocacy‐focused, yoga‐based, local or international); and platform (video‐ vs text‐based) and throughout the illness. Whilst this study recognises the necessity of medical treatment for Long Covid, we also recommended that individuals with Long Covid explore different support groups to find the most suitable group for them in terms of preferred group features, values towards illness management and enablement of social identities. 10.1002/casp.2849 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Online support groups, social identity, and the health and wellbeing of adults with Long Covid: An interview study
topic Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology
url https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/casp.2849