Developing a job retention vocational rehabilitation intervention for people with long covid: a person-based approach

作者：C. Boutry, Phillips, Carina Knight, Jain Holmes, Priya Patel, Richard Morriss, Roshan das Nair, Eleanor Douglas, Charlotte E Bolton, Boliang Guo, Kate Radford · 发表于：BMJ Open · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1136/bmjopen-2025-109740 · 研究领域：Long-Term Effects of COVID-19、Intensive Care Unit Cognitive Disorders、COVID-19 and Mental Health

BACKGROUND: Long covid affects a significant proportion of people following SARS-CoV-2 infection and is associated with persistent symptoms such as fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and breathlessness which can negatively impact a person's ability to return to and remain in work. Although tiered vocational rehabilitation (VR) models have been proposed, these are often generic, lack empirical validation and may not address the complex, fluctuating needs of this population. OBJECTIVES: To co-design a VR intervention (the COVID-19-VR intervention) to support return to work (RTW) for people with long covid (pwLC). SETTING: Primary and secondary care. DESIGN: Mixed-methods target population-centred, person-based approach in three stages: Stage 1: interviews (n=21) with pwLC to identify issues and challenges faced in working with long covid. Stage 2: three co-design workshops with pwLC and service providers to (a) generate guiding principles, (b) identify key intervention features to address work needs, (c) create a logic model to illustrate how the intervention could work and (d) develop a treatment plan and resources. Stage 3: feasibility and acceptability testing in six cases (three critical care admissions, three primary care referrals). RESULTS: PwLC described work-related problems relating to: fluctuating symptoms (cognition, fatigue and breathlessness), employer, coworker and family's understanding of long covid and workplace adjustments. We developed a 6-session, 12-week indiv...