Long covid case study
Discover how our rehabilitation team helped Sue during her illness and her gradual return to work.
Sue’s story
Sue had been off work for two months with long Covid. She was struggling to cope with the psychological effects and fatigue, which resulted in her being unable to fulfil her job requirements.
Sue said: “It was about a month after I had Covid that I started to get some really weird things happen in my body. I could hardly get myself out of bed. A lot of people talk about brain fog. It’s much worse than that. You can't function really, you can’t process, you can’t have a conversation because you can’t get your brain and your mouth to work together.
“I had no idea what to do, what it was and where to go.”
Hear Sue’s story in her own words
How Zurich was able to help
With Sue’s employer’s Group Income Protection policy providing financial security, Sue was able to focus on her health and recovery.
Nicola became Sue’s rehabilitation consultant, and worked closely with her to understand her health situation and focus on a gradual rehabilitation plan to help Sue get back to her old life.
Nicola said: "For me it wasn't about the diagnosis, it was about Sue and what she was struggling with. Who is Sue? What does she want to get back doing? How can we help her to do that? It was really important that she could achieve something every day and feel like her days weren’t being stolen from her. Knowing that there is someone there who listens, understands, cares and is happy to support, I think is really important."
During their weekly calls, they agreed that Sue was going through something similar to grief, but her loss was for her old self.
It was amazing to have a trained person believe me and help me with the emotional and psychological impact of my illness. When I got tired and down, Nicola would give me some well-intended tough love to remind me that I needed time to let my body heal and reassured me that I would get there.
Nicola taught Sue ‘pacing’, which is integrating periods of rest with periods of activity. Sue found this to be extremely effective and began to move forwards with her recovery.
"Nicola made me feel like it’s ok, I’m here to help you, I believe you. Here was someone who had my back and was going to help reintroduce me to work without breaking myself. I began to enjoy small victories and improvements. I also learnt a fantastic new skill from Nicola. I meditate! I was not a meditation person before, but now it’s part of my normal routine. I’ve learnt to look after myself."
Nicola worked with Sue’s HR team, explaining how they could support Sue and before long, she felt ready to return to work.
Developing and refining a return-to-work plan
Sue said: "The way we approached my return to work was phased and really gradual. It wasn’t just about how many hours I was doing, it was about the intensity of the work I was doing. When I know I’ve got something quite intense coming up, I have to plan the days and hours around it as well as the day itself. Rest more than I think I have to rest, make sure I do meditation, and then if I know I'm going to have an intense day, don't follow it with another intense day."
Sue continued with her ‘pacing’ and put her newly learned techniques into practice, and found she was able to gradually increase her hours. Sue and Nicola were in touch throughout, refining the plan as they went along. After 12 weeks, Sue had her energy back and returned to her full-time working hours.
The old Sue was back.
I felt cared for by Nicola. She was there for me any time I needed her. She was my comforting safety net whilst I focussed on getting better.
