People from ethnic minorities seeking help for Long Covid: a qualitative study
People from ethnic minorities seeking help for Long Covid: a qualitative study
Background: people from ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, are less likely to access primary healthcare and report dissatisfaction with healthcare. Whilst the prevalence of Long Covid in ethnic minority groups is unclear, these groups are under-represented in Long Covid specialist clinics and Long Covid lived experience research which informed the original Long Covid healthcare guidelines.
Aim: to understand lived experiences of Long Covid in people from ethnic minority groups.
Design & setting: qualitative study with people living with Long Covid in the UK.
Method: semi-structured interviews with people who self-disclosed Long Covid were conducted (between June 2022 and June 2023) via telephone or video call. Thematic analysis was conducted. People living with Long Covid or caring for someone with Long Covid advised on all stages of the research.
Results: interviews were conducted with 31 participants representing diverse socio-economic demographics. Help-seeking barriers included little awareness of Long Covid or available support and not feeling worthy of receiving care. Negative healthcare encounters were reported in primary healthcare; however, these services were crucial for accessing secondary or specialist care. There were further access difficulties and dissatisfaction with specialist care. Experiences of stigma and discrimination contributed to delays in seeking healthcare and unsatisfactory experiences, resulting in feelings of mistrust in healthcare.
Conclusion: experiences of stigma and discrimination resulted in negative healthcare experiences and mistrust in healthcare, creating barriers to help-seeking. Empathy, validation of experiences, and fairness in recognition and support of healthcare needs are required to restore trust in healthcare.
Smyth, Nina
c9720d57-5c5d-4cc1-88eb-71578a97e7ab
Ridge, Damien
be5553ec-dd1c-4561-876f-6b1c11fefc60
Kingstone, Tom
1ea88966-f392-4bb3-a7b2-c211cbca1161
Gopal, Dipesh P.
80ae77c3-62e4-4d6e-b522-025fcdab376a
Alwan, Nisreen A.
0d37b320-f325-4ed3-ba51-0fe2866d5382
Wright, Alexa
73373ead-f34a-4d5a-8e9f-cf1f89fb1a29
Chaudhry, Ashish
169e6128-6dde-4ae2-849a-c397993edd9e
Clark, Sophie
f086e526-91c3-4c04-972d-d790a7838329
Band, Rebecca
9c21cb7f-a82f-489d-b67c-a7cd03c24a22
Chew-Graham, Carolyn A.
28f3f383-6b7f-492f-9ffa-8422d7239c9c
28 May 2024
Smyth, Nina
c9720d57-5c5d-4cc1-88eb-71578a97e7ab
Ridge, Damien
be5553ec-dd1c-4561-876f-6b1c11fefc60
Kingstone, Tom
1ea88966-f392-4bb3-a7b2-c211cbca1161
Gopal, Dipesh P.
80ae77c3-62e4-4d6e-b522-025fcdab376a
Alwan, Nisreen A.
0d37b320-f325-4ed3-ba51-0fe2866d5382
Wright, Alexa
73373ead-f34a-4d5a-8e9f-cf1f89fb1a29
Chaudhry, Ashish
169e6128-6dde-4ae2-849a-c397993edd9e
Clark, Sophie
f086e526-91c3-4c04-972d-d790a7838329
Band, Rebecca
9c21cb7f-a82f-489d-b67c-a7cd03c24a22
Chew-Graham, Carolyn A.
28f3f383-6b7f-492f-9ffa-8422d7239c9c
Smyth, Nina, Ridge, Damien, Kingstone, Tom, Gopal, Dipesh P., Alwan, Nisreen A., Wright, Alexa, Chaudhry, Ashish, Clark, Sophie, Band, Rebecca and Chew-Graham, Carolyn A.
(2024)
People from ethnic minorities seeking help for Long Covid: a qualitative study.
British Journal of General Practice.
(doi:10.3399/BJGP.2023.0631).
Abstract
Background: people from ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, are less likely to access primary healthcare and report dissatisfaction with healthcare. Whilst the prevalence of Long Covid in ethnic minority groups is unclear, these groups are under-represented in Long Covid specialist clinics and Long Covid lived experience research which informed the original Long Covid healthcare guidelines.
Aim: to understand lived experiences of Long Covid in people from ethnic minority groups.
Design & setting: qualitative study with people living with Long Covid in the UK.
Method: semi-structured interviews with people who self-disclosed Long Covid were conducted (between June 2022 and June 2023) via telephone or video call. Thematic analysis was conducted. People living with Long Covid or caring for someone with Long Covid advised on all stages of the research.
Results: interviews were conducted with 31 participants representing diverse socio-economic demographics. Help-seeking barriers included little awareness of Long Covid or available support and not feeling worthy of receiving care. Negative healthcare encounters were reported in primary healthcare; however, these services were crucial for accessing secondary or specialist care. There were further access difficulties and dissatisfaction with specialist care. Experiences of stigma and discrimination contributed to delays in seeking healthcare and unsatisfactory experiences, resulting in feelings of mistrust in healthcare.
Conclusion: experiences of stigma and discrimination resulted in negative healthcare experiences and mistrust in healthcare, creating barriers to help-seeking. Empathy, validation of experiences, and fairness in recognition and support of healthcare needs are required to restore trust in healthcare.
Text
BJGP-2023-0631.submitted_100524
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
BJGP.2023.0631.full
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 13 May 2024
e-pub ahead of print date: 28 May 2024
Published date: 28 May 2024
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 490169
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/490169
ISSN: 0960-1643
PURE UUID: 4d6c321b-c05a-4212-9baa-e5b9cbf0cae3
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 16 May 2024 16:38
Last modified: 16 Oct 2024 01:51
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Nina Smyth
Author:
Damien Ridge
Author:
Tom Kingstone
Author:
Dipesh P. Gopal
Author:
Alexa Wright
Author:
Ashish Chaudhry
Author:
Sophie Clark
Author:
Rebecca Band
Author:
Carolyn A. Chew-Graham
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
