It started with a tweet
On 3rd November 2020, an idea was hatched to connect Physiotherapists living with Long COVID, and one tweet suggested using a hashtag: #LongCOVIDPhysio. This hashtag was used by Physiotherapists in the UK and USA. By 21st November 2020, there seemed to be many Physiotherapists living with Long Covid and this was the beginning of Long Covid Physio as a peer support group. It all started with a tweet.
We initially connected as Physiotherapists living with Long COVID within a twitter group message, but capacity was exceeded within a few days so we created a facebook group, with the aim of providing a safe space to share experiences. A social media presence was developed with a twitter account, and we rapidly realised Long COVID Physio was able to provide more in addition to peer support. Due to our professional identity as Physiotherapists with experience living with Long COVID, we are able to advocate for people living with Long COVID to access safe and effective rehabilitation, and advocate for caution and risk stratification with exercise as a rehabilitation intervention. Quickly new outputs were needed to raise our voice and support professional education.
We started by creating a logo to identify who we are, followed quickly with a podcast available on YouTube, Spotify and Anchor to share our stories and invite our allies to join the discussion. We collaborated with Physiopedia to provide free education for Physiotherapists worldwide, and are developing a free online Physioplus course.
We have worked with PhysiosForME to raise concerns about exercise interventions in research studies, and are in discussions with COVERSCAN about caution required with exercise. We have received invitations to write blogs for academic journals including JOSPT and BJSM, collaborate with allies in peer reviewed publications on fatigue management and concerns around exercise, and contribute to online webinars and conferences. Watch this space for all of these outputs coming soon.
More recently we started collaborations with Physiotherapy professional organisations including the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) and World Physiotherapy, to raise awareness of peer support opportunities, centre on episodic disability and employment rights, and provide education on Long COVID. We are working closely with Long COVID Support around advocacy for employment, rehabilitation, and caution with exercise. Most recently, we created this website and now our first blog.
Long COVID Physio started small, but has evolved rapidly in our role and reach. The pace of change globally is mirrored by our responce to Long COVID as Physiotherapists. I am personally so proud of what we have achieved collectively in only a few months. I look forward to what the future holds in our peer support, advocacy, research and education.
