Holding the hope? Therapist and client perspectives on long COVID recovery: A Q-methodology

IF 3.5 2区心理学 Q1 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

British Journal of Health Psychology Pub Date : 2024-05-12 DOI:10.1111/bjhp.12724

William Burton-Fisher, Kim Gordon

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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.

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保持希望？治疗师和客户对长期 COVID 恢复的看法：Q-方法论。

目的：长期慢性阻塞性脑损伤是一个全球性的健康问题，会对患者的身体造成严重影响。在英国，长期慢性阻塞性肺气肿患者可接受心理治疗，但这些疗法的证据尚待证实。本研究旨在了解治疗师和客户如何定义和理解长期 COVID 的康复，并使用希望理论来解释研究结果：研究采用了在线 Q 方法，参与者根据自己的同意程度对一系列与长期 COVID 康复相关的陈述进行排序。对这些排列好的陈述（Q-sorts）进行整理和因素分析，以探索和比较潜在的观点：研究共招募了 16 名参与者，其中包括 11 名客户、4 名 IAPT 治疗师和 1 名在更广泛的长期 COVID 途径中工作的治疗师。报告中提出了一个四因素模型，包括（1）心理康复途径；（2）社会环境和机构；（3）生理康复目标；（4）个人意义建构。所有的 IAPT 治疗师都在心理路径因子上有所体现，而其余参与者的观点则更加多样化：认为长期 COVID 康复是可能的这一充满希望的指标，在因子 1 "心理康复途径 "和因子 3 "生理康复目标 "中得分最高。这表明，对康复有一个明确的定义，或对如何进行干预有一个明确的指导，会增强希望，从理论上讲，也会增强幸福感。然而，客户也报告了被医疗专业人员否定和不相信的经历，心理解释有时被认为是轻蔑和无效的。本文讨论了临床影响和未来研究方向。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

British Journal of Health Psychology PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

14.10

自引率

1.30%

发文量

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.