University of Twente Student Theses
The concepts of disease, illness, and sickness in Post COVID : a thematic analysis on patient narratives
Joling, L.J.J. (2022) The concepts of disease, illness, and sickness in Post COVID : a thematic analysis on patient narratives.
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| Abstract: | Post COVID is a novel and contemporary health condition which is characterized by prolonged symptoms after a COVID-19 infection. Due to the novelty of the condition, its uncertain prognosis and the absence of treatment options, the illness trajectory of Post COVID sufferers may be met with conflicts related to themes on (inter)personal and societal dimensions. Research on the exploration of these various ‘points of tension’ related to Post COVID, based on the personal illness experience of its sufferers, seems to be lacking in scientific literature. The ‘disease-illness-sickness’ triad is a theory to that can be utilized to conceptualize various societal perspectives of the Post COVID illness experience, namely its personal (illness), biomedical (disease), and social (sickness) perspectives. Narratives can be used to be able to gain a deeper understanding of a person’s experiences and explore various themes on the triad as told from the personal experiences of Post COVID sufferers. Therefore, the current study aims at exploring the illness narratives and ‘Letters from the Future’ written by persons suffering from Post COVID, to answer the question where Post COVID sufferers perceive the placements and interactions of various illness-related conflicts on the ‘disease-illness-sickness’ triad. Thematic analysis on the illness narratives and ‘Letters from the Future’ found that there are ten different themes that can be considered to be tension points between various in the triad: eight themes of dyadic nature (illness-disease and illness-sickness) and two themes related to the complete interaction of the triad (illness-disease-sickness). These themes seem to be primarily caused by the novelty and unfamiliarity of Post COVID as a human health condition on biomedical and societal structures, including its (perceived lack of) developments (e.g. of medical, economic, legislative or societal resources), having a negative effect on the personal Post COVID illness experience. The findings of the current study aim to call for greater awareness to the personal illness experience of individuals suffering from Post COVID for governmental policy-makers, healthcare professionals, and society at large. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 77 psychology |
| Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/93082 |
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