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Bias in Health Care Service Experienced by People with Long COVID or Chronic Illness: Lessons for the Public Health and Medical Community

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Health Care Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 2343

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77705, USA
Interests: long COVID; health disparity; health and human rights; medical cannabis; environment and health; social epidemiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many people around the world report not being believed by medical professionals when experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. This has been especially evident for women and minority groups. Differences in treatment by medical professionals for people with chronic ‘invisible’ illnesses are not new. Vulnerable groups with invisible illnesses consistently report not being believed by medical professionals, and the COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the rampant bias occurring worldwide in the health care system. More research providing solutions on how to reduce bias in health care is needed.

This Special Issue focuses on bias in health care services experienced by people with long COVID or chronic illness. It will highlight the experiences of various vulnerable groups. The collection of articles aims to encourage discussion around how to recognize and reduce bias in health care. Original research papers, reviews, commentaries, and case reports are welcome. We will accept manuscripts from different scientific fields, including but not limited to social epidemiology, global health, health policy, medical sociology, criminal justice, public health, public health law, and health service research. Research that highlights the extent to which bias in the medical community impacts the health and wellbeing of vulnerable groups from disadvantaged populations will be prioritized.

Dr. Margot Gage Witvliet
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • long COVID
  • medical gaslighting
  • gender bias in health care
  • health disparity
  • socioeconomic inequality in health
  • social determinants of health
  • minority health
  • invisible illness (e.g., chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME), chronic Lyme diease, fibromyalgia, lupus, mental health)
  • post-viral illnesses
  • vulnerable groups (elderly, children, incarcerated population)

Published Papers (1 paper)

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9 pages, 278 KiB  
Brief Report
Reaching out to Patients with Long COVID to Better Understand Their Life Experiences and How to Support Their Recovery: A Patient-Oriented Knowledge Sharing Session
by Alexa Pommer, Gayle Halas, Rukmali Mendis, Cindy Campbell, Brenda Semenko, Brandy Stadnyk, Leyda Thalman, Susan Mair, Yue Sun, Neil Johnston and Diana C. Sanchez-Ramirez
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21(2), 187; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21020187 - 6 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1713
Abstract
This article reports on participants’ experiences with long COVID-19 (LC) (symptoms, impact, healthcare use, and perceived needs) and satisfaction with a patient-oriented knowledge-sharing session organized by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, researchers, and a patient partner. Twenty-six participants completed a pre-session survey. [...] Read more.
This article reports on participants’ experiences with long COVID-19 (LC) (symptoms, impact, healthcare use, and perceived needs) and satisfaction with a patient-oriented knowledge-sharing session organized by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals, researchers, and a patient partner. Twenty-six participants completed a pre-session survey. On average, they were 21 months post-COVID-19 infection (SD 10.9); 81% of them were female, and 84% were 40+ years old. The main symptoms reported included fatigue (96%), cognitive problems (92%), and general pain or discomfort (40%). More than half of the participants reported that LC has had a significant impact on their health-related quality of life. Eighty-one percent of the participants reported seeking medical help for their LC symptoms and found the services provided by physical therapists, primary care providers, and acupuncturists to be helpful in managing their condition. Participants would like to have access to healthcare providers and clinics specializing in LC. They liked the session and found the information presented useful. This information helps to better understand the experiences of people living with LC and how to support their recovery. Full article
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