The rehabilitation will consist of body therapies with a focus on lung and heart functions (breathing techniques, medical yoga and relaxation methods). Body therapies will be combined with adapted psychotherapy used in fatigue rehabilitation to increase mental, emotional and physical recovery and improve sleep. Each week, a lecture session will be offered related to more specific post-covid-19 issues.
The goal of the efforts is that you get an explanation regarding your symptoms, which leads to increased symptom management and that you get practical skills to improve respiratory function, reduce sympathetic pressure, normalize heart activity, manage thoughts and feelings about your impairments and adjust function and activity level.
The rehabilitation also includes adapted physical activity that you exercise and register in an app ExorLive, which will be followed by a physiotherapist.
Regarding time in rehabilitation, you can plan on 2-3 hours per day, 3-4 days per week for about 8 weeks, including physical activity on your own.
Rehabilitation sessions in groups will be given in the afternoons, usually between 13.00-16.00 and a more precise schedule will be presented before the start.
To follow your rehabilitation, we will offer individual check-ins of about 30 minutes each week on medical issues and your mood, your individual goals in rehabilitation and possible return to work, etc.
The team will consist of a doctor, psychologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and possibly a nurse depending on efforts.
For those of you who work but want to participate in rehabilitation, we will give advice on how to apply for preventive sick leave to participate, but in this case rehabilitation is planned later in the year.
After an 8-week rehabilitation program, we may offer a limited individual follow-up to strengthen the learned management strategies and support your possible return to work. The total time in the rehabilitation is estimated at about 70-80 hours per participant.
The study is a so-called randomized controlled trial. This means that at the start of the project in April/May 2021, you will be drawn to receive rehabilitation for 8 weeks, or be on a waiting list. If you are drawn into a waiting list, you will be asked to fill in the same questionnaire twice, ie even 8 weeks after you have been on the waiting list. This is so that the research group can compare differences in effect between those who have taken part in the treatment and those who have been on the waiting list.
