ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2022
Exploring Online Peer Support Groups for Adults Experiencing Long COVID in the United Kingdom: Qualitative Interview Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Patient and Professional Perspectives on Long COVID: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Synthesis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Psychosocial Aspects of the Lived Experience of Long COVID: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Studies.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Pooled it
- Towards evidence-based and inclusive models of peer support for long covid: A hermeneutic systematic review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023Pooled it
- Living with "long COVID": A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Vital yet Fragile: Informal Networks of Support Among Young People Navigating Long Covid.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026Article
- Supporting the psychosocial well-being of patients with Long COVID: patient-informed strategies from a qualitative study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Awake patients' experiences and coping needs during awake prone positioning in general wards: a patient-perspective qualitative study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Long COVID symptoms and loneliness: findings from the World Trade Center Health Registry.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Understanding Long COVID Among Young People in Victoria, Australia: Prevalence, Impact, and Associated Factors.Public health challenges · 2025Article
- Patients' experiences of living with Long Covid and their beliefs about the role of psychology in their condition.Journal of health psychology · 2025Article
- 'I Do Take the Number Seriously, but I Don't Let My Moods Depend on It': Negotiating Self-Tracking Data With People Living With Long COVID in the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.Sociology of health & illness · 2025Article
- Health promotion in the algorithmic age: recognizing the information environment as a determinant of health.Health promotion international · 2025Article
- I'm still quite young: women's lived experience of precocious or premature menopause: a qualitative study among Egyptian women.BMC nursing · 2025Article
- A mixed studies systematic review on the health and wellbeing effects, and underlying mechanisms, of online support groups for chronic conditions.Communications psychology · 2025Article
- Online peer support for mental health in individuals with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19: A pre-post pilot study with mixed methods.PCN reports : psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2024Article
- What is current care for people with Long COVID in England? A qualitative interview study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- A phenomenological study on the lived experience of men with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.Journal of health psychology · 2024Article
- "I Had to Know About It, I Had to Find It, I Had to Know How to Access it": Experiences of Access to Rehabilitation Services Among People Living with Long COVID.Physiotherapy Canada. Physiotherapie Canada · 2024Article
- A Journey Through Grief: Experiences of Loss Among Patients With Long COVID.Journal of patient experience · 2024Article
- Baseline Characteristics in the Remote Diet Intervention to REduce long-COVID Symptoms Trial (ReDIRECT).NIHR open research · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLong COVID is an emerging public health concern. A growing number of individuals are experiencing prolonged, multifaceted health challenges and accompanying social impacts after COVID-19 infections. Support services in the United Kingdom remain insufficient and fraught with complexity. Responding to persistent gaps in care, patients joined forces in online peer support groups. However, little is known about how these groups impact patients with long COVID and their lived experiences of the condition.
objectiveThe aim of this study is to explore the roles that online peer support groups take on and the impact they have on patients experiencing and recovering from long COVID in the United Kingdom. In doing so, this study aims to identify ways to inform future long COVID care, including online peer support and broader long COVID care structures.
methodsI conducted 11 semistructured interviews virtually on Zoom in July 2021. Participants had long COVID, were UK-based, and used long COVID online peer support groups. Topics discussed in interviews included what led participants to these groups, experiences within them, and feelings about the roles that the groups took on. I analyzed the results by manually conducting thematic analysis.
resultsLong COVID online peer support groups had numerous roles, significantly impacting users. I identified 5 themes and 13 subthemes through thematic analysis. The identified themes were as follows: (1) filling professional care gaps, (2) societal awareness, (3) engagement behavior, (4) diversity, and (5) social connections. Given the void of professional support, those experiencing long COVID gained some benefit from these groups. However, participants emphasized notable concerns about the all-encompassing roles these groups embody and speculated over potential improvements.
conclusionsIf used appropriately, online peer support groups could be immensely beneficial for patient well-being, beyond simply filling gaps in long COVID care. However, it appears many groups take on more than they can manage and become potentially harmful. Through prioritizing patient voices, long COVID care could be restructured to maximize peer support's benefits within broader care structures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.