Safe Long COVID Rehabilitation
a video from Long COVID Physio
Physiotherapists living with Long COVID have produced a short video [5 mins 15] for fellow physios explaining the importance of providing safe rehabilitation for people with LC and ME/CFS.
Excerpts:
Rehabilitation aims to reduce the impact of a health condition on a person’s life by trying to manage, maintain or improve functioning and prevent or reduce experiences of disability.
Rehabilitation must be person centred, goal centred and individualised to people’s symptoms, health challenges and disability.
Some rehabilitation approaches cause harm. Graded Exercise Therapy, a clinician supervised gradual increase in physical activity or exercise over time worsens symptoms and decreases functioning in people with post-exertional symptom exacerbation such as Myalgic encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or long COVID.
To ensure we do no harm in Long Covid rehabilitation we must continuously screen and monitor for post exertion or symptom exacerbation or post-exertional malaise and promote the message of the ME/CFS community to Stop, Rest and Pace.
Some examples of safe rehabilitation include:
- providing education about the importance of therapeutic rest and sleep
- skills training on pacing to manage activities and energy levels
- help to use heart rate monitoring
- support developing an activity management plan within energy limits to minimise symptoms
- finding ways to respond quickly to flare-ups or relapses
- providing equipment and training in the use of equipment to reduce the number and severity of relapses
Find out about Long Covid Physio and other videos and articles
