“It’s a rollercoaster”: the recovery and return to work experiences of workers with long COVID

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ details.

Pseudonym	Age	Gender	Sector	Contracted COVID-19	Number of formal long absences	Longest period of sick leave	Symptoms
Anne	41	Female	Healthcare	03/2020	1	5 weeks	Cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, musculoskeletal, respiratory, HEENT, systemic
Beth	55	Female	Healthcare	04/2020	3	Few months	Cardiovascular, neuropsychiatric, musculoskeletal, respiratory, systemic
Chloe	30	Female	Healthcare	03/2020	3, still on sick leave	4 months	Cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, HEENT, systemic
Diana	33	Female	Retail	03/2020	1, dismissed	5 months	Cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, systemic
Eve	55	Female	Healthcare	10/2020	2	4 months	Neuropsychiatric, gastrointestinal, dermatologic, respiratory, musculoskeletal, reproductive/genitouterine, systemic HEENT
Fiona	58	Female	Local government	04/2020	4	3 months	Cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immunologic, musculoskeletal, respiratory, neuropsychiatric, systemic
Gail	49	Female	Social care	03/2020	2	2 months	Cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, dermatologic immunologic, musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, systemic
Holly	48	Female	Civil service	09/2020	2	4 months	Cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immunologic, musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, HEENT, systemic, reproductive/genitouterine,
Ila	51	Female	Civil service	04/2020	1	6 months	Musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, HEENT, systemic
John	45	Male	Education	12/2020	1	2.5 months	Musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, systemic
Kath	35	Female	Higher education	03/2020	3	5 months	Cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, musculoskeletal, systemic
Lara	36	Female	Healthcare	12/2020	2	3 months	Cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neuropsychiatric, respiratory, HEENT, systemic

Note: HEENT = Head, Ears, Eyes, Nose, Throat.

Table 2. Overview of themes.

Higher theme	Subtheme
	Individual	Group	Leader	Organisational	Overarching context
Long COVID suffering	Long COVID suffering		Understanding long COVID suffering	Organisational validation of long COVID suffering	Societal validation of long COVID suffering
Identity	Identity struggle
	Identity work		Managing through identity transformation
Belongingness		Work group belongingness	Workplace belongingness	Employment belongingness	Long COVID community belongingness
				Long COVID staff support group belongingness

Table 3. Return to work and recovery and barriers and facilitators.

	Anne	Beth	Chloe	Diana	Eve	Fiona	Gail	Holly	Ila	John	Kath	Lara	SUM
Individual level
Long COVID suffering	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	12
Identity struggle	B	B	B	B	B	B	B	B		B	B	B	11
Identity work	F	F	B		F	B		F	B			F	8
Group level
Work group belongingness		F	F	F	B	F	B	F			F	B	9
Leader level
Understanding long COVID suffering					B	B		B	B	B		B	6
Managing through identity transformation	F, B	F, B	F	F	F, B,	F	F, B	F, B	F	F	F	B	12
Workplace belongingness		F	F, B		B		B	F		F			6
Organisational level
Organisational validation of long COVID suffering	B							B			B		3
Employment belongingness		B			B		B	B	B			B	6
Long COVID staff support group belongingness		F					F	F					3
Overarching context level
Societal validation of suffering	B	B			B	B				B			5
SUM	6	9	6	4	9	7	7	10	5	6	5	11

Note: B = Barrier, F = Facilitator.