Long COVID, Trust, and Cohesion
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been an increasing number of people who never fully recovered from their COVID-19 infection. Rather they have Post COVID-19 Syndrome, more commonly known as ‘Long COVID’. Many Long COVID patients have spoken out about negative patient-provider interactions they encountered when seeking care for their symptoms.
Several reports highlight the frustration many Long COVID patients feel about medical professionals who were skeptical and dismissive of their condition. Historically, studies have illustrated that a key factor of trust within medical contexts is patient-provider relationships. Studies have suggested that medical professionals are viewed as representing medical systems. As such, in healthcare, interpersonal trust must be established before there is potential for institutional trust. Furthermore, when there is a breach of trust in medical professionals and systems, health seeking behaviors and treatment adherence may be jeopardized. Therefore, it is essential to examine Long COVID patients’ trust in healthcare to establish a starting point in mitigating the risk of further adverse health outcomes in this population, which could foster confidence in medical systems and may encourage the population at large to seek care for medical conditions.
As such, this study aimed to understand how uncertainty around Long COVID impacted patients’ trust in medical professionals and to what extent that influenced their perceptions of medical systems. As such, 64 Long COVID patients were surveyed on their care experience and 17 semi structured interviews were held. The findings suggest participants’ experiences with obtaining Long COVID care shaped their trust in medical professionals and systems and influenced future health-seeking behaviors. Moreover, governments can rebuild patients’ trust through restructuring, prioritizing, and funding Long COVID care and research.
Long COVID, Trust, and Cohesion
Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been an increasing number of people who never fully recovered from their COVID-19 infection. Rather they have Post COVID-19 Syndrome, more commonly known as ‘Long COVID’. Many Long COVID patients have spoken out about negative patient-provider interactions they encountered when seeking care for their symptoms.
Several reports highlight the frustration many Long COVID patients feel about medical professionals who were skeptical and dismissive of their condition. Historically, studies have illustrated that a key factor of trust within medical contexts is patient-provider relationships. Studies have suggested that medical professionals are viewed as representing medical systems. As such, in healthcare, interpersonal trust must be established before there is potential for institutional trust. Furthermore, when there is a breach of trust in medical professionals and systems, health seeking behaviors and treatment adherence may be jeopardized. Therefore, it is essential to examine Long COVID patients’ trust in healthcare to establish a starting point in mitigating the risk of further adverse health outcomes in this population, which could foster confidence in medical systems and may encourage the population at large to seek care for medical conditions.
As such, this study aimed to understand how uncertainty around Long COVID impacted patients’ trust in medical professionals and to what extent that influenced their perceptions of medical systems. As such, 64 Long COVID patients were surveyed on their care experience and 17 semi structured interviews were held. The findings suggest participants’ experiences with obtaining Long COVID care shaped their trust in medical professionals and systems and influenced future health-seeking behaviors. Moreover, governments can rebuild patients’ trust through restructuring, prioritizing, and funding Long COVID care and research.
